CommEX regional director reveals details of Binance user migration

On September 27, the cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced the closure of its Russian subsidiary and sold the business to CommEX. ForkLog spoke with the firm’s regional director for Russia and the CIS, Anton Toropcev, who shared details of user migration and plans for the future.

Key questions

Regarding the transfer of existing clients, the executive explained that the process will be phased. First, the platform will transfer standard account data: login, password and basic KYC information.

“A longer and more complex process is the implementation of support for assets that exist on Binance. We do not yet have many coins available for input, but we will gradually add more and more to reach a critical mass by the time of the full transition,” emphasised Toropcev.

At the same time, CommEX is optimising key services and products, and will increase liquidity in the order books.

The migration is expected to take about a year, the top manager clarified. With a favourable run of events, he allowed for earlier completion, but much depends on “the platform’s readiness to onboard all Binance users”.

“There are certainly concerns that some clients will move to other platforms. But this is inevitable, as everyone chooses where to trade. I can say for sure that we will do everything to earn trust and continually improve our product,” said the regional director of CommEX.

According to Toropcev, the main goal is to create a convenient and secure platform for trading cryptocurrencies, tailored to the needs of the local audience. The company aims to enter at least the top-3 crypto exchanges by trading volume in Russia.

The head also confirmed the presence of former Binance employees on the staff, noting that they were hired for relevant work experience and high competence.

Mr. Anton Toropcev graduated with a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the Moscow State University Business School named after Lomonosov. Early in his career he worked in fintech: for three years he was responsible for marketing at an asset-management company and promoted a retail investment product — OPIF. Later the specialist joined the CIS team of Binance headed by Gleb Kostarev, where for two years he was responsible for user acquisition and increasing key metrics.

Further plans

CommEX is still formulating its roadmap, but initially the company will focus on “products for active traders and marketing tools”. In the future the platform will feature:

• staking;
• grid bots;
• copy trading;
• two-tier referral program;
• trading contests;
• task centre.

Toropcev stated that all client funds are stored on the exchange’s wallets. It’s too early to talk about Proof-of-Reserves, but in the future reports on reserves are expected, the regional director noted.

The new platform is registered on the Seychelles Islands, so CommEX has not yet had discussions with Russian regulators. At the same time, the firm is open to dialogue with authorities, the top manager added.

“The current geopolitical situation exerts a twofold influence on the crypto market in Russia. It is becoming harder for users to trade on global platforms due to all sorts of restrictions, while it seems that the regulatory processes aimed at regulating the crypto industry in the country have moved to the back burner,” Toropcev says.

Meanwhile, many local companies are trying to embed blockchain technologies into their products and are increasingly looking toward interacting with the crypto market, noted the CommEX regional director. On the retail market there is also an inflow of new users, especially those who previously did not use digital assets.

In Toropcev’s view, they have discovered the main advantage of cryptocurrencies — fast and cheap cross-border transfer of value.

“Regarding the future of digital assets in Russia, I do not expect any substantial changes to their status in the near-term. We hope that someday we will obtain transparent regulation of the industry. This will undoubtedly lead to an increase in its role in the country’s economy and the appearance of innovative fintech products that ease the lives of ordinary users,” concluded the regional director of CommEX.

As a reminder, after Binance’s exit some users had already moved to new platforms. Russians mainly choose the Bybit exchange. At the same time, overall trading activity in Russia has significantly declined.