Overview
- Reuters reported on Aug. 17, 2026 that law‑enforcement documents show Binance responded to a 2025 Russian request for a customer’s transaction history and identification through an email address the company lists for Russian police.
- The files reviewed by Reuters say the replies included the donor’s date of birth, address, phone number, passport number and copies of his Russian passport and Bulgarian residency permit, material later used in an interim case outline charging Yuri Belenkiy with terrorism financing.
- Binance says it cooperates with lawful law‑enforcement requests and declined to comment on the specific case, while noting it announced a full exit from Russia in September 2023 and sold its local business to CommEX.
- Legal experts quoted in the reporting say GDPR could bar transfers of EU‑resident data to Russia, but enforcement hinges on where Belenkiy’s account was registered and which Binance legal entity held the records, facts not yet established.
- The episode underscores that centralized exchanges hold identity‑linked customer records that can convert blockchain flows into prosecutable evidence and may prompt regulatory probes and further scrutiny of exchange compliance practices.