Roskomnadzor blacklists Binance in Russia

[rexxarofmoknathal]

A few hours ago Binance, the largest exchange platform has been blacklisted by Roskomnadzor (Russian telecom regulator) on the grounds that the exchange is "disseminating prohibited information".

However, this restriction does not lawfully prohibit Russians from accessing Binance so everything for now acts as normal.

So far it has been tentatively speculated that this decision has got nothing to do with Bianance's plan to launch a 'crypto debit card' in Russia.

In fact, very little is know as to what was the real cause of this measure. To read more about this story, click here.

To this extent the real reasons behind this remain unknown. Is this a new attempt to cripple blockchain and its descendant coins?
What are your thoughts?

[Charles-Tim]

Russia’s telecom regulator blacklists Binance website
https://cointelegraph.com/news/russia-s-telecom-regulator-blacklists-binance-website/amp

Despite the domain being placed on the list of prohibited websites, Russians can still access it without any additional tools like a VPN. As of press time, the URL can be found on the official register of blacklisted sites of Roskomnadzor. According to the data, the website was listed on June 2, 2020, while the access to the website “is not limited.”

To this extent the real reasons behind this remain unknown.

According to the announcement, Binance has been placed in the list due to distribution of data related to the acquisition of digital currencies like Bitcoin (BTC). Gleb Kostarev, Binance’s head of operations for Russia and the CIS, told Cointelegraph that the exchange announced the news immediately after the exchange received a notification from Roskomnadzor.

To this extent the real reasons behind this remain unknown. Is this a new attempt to cripple blockchain and its descendant coins?
What are your thoughts?

So far other exchanges are not among, I do not think they have any plan against blockchain and its descendants.

[avikz]

Russia was never favorable towards cryptocurrencies. A lot of discussions ongoing at upper house og government to ban cryptocurrencies completely from 2021. So this matter is not something that is out of the blue entirely. However, the problem with Communist countries is that, you can never receive correct information out of them. What they say in public is often a white lie. So we will never come to know the truth until someone knowledgeable talks about it in open.

I am sure the Russian government has a different motive behind this. Otherwise it is easier for them to just make Binance inaccessible for the mass!

[AjithBtc]

This Blacklist seems to be temporary in my view. Maybe it serve as a way to regulate and give warning to the exchange service providers to have everything secure without leaving data outside. Along with other blacklisted websites Binance getting added will make some fear among the common people who are into cryptocurrency usage with hesitant mind. In the past it accepted blockchain technology to make the infrastructure function effectively.

[Mpamaegbu]

According to the announcement, Binance has been placed in the list due to distribution of data related to the acquisition of digital currencies like Bitcoin (BTC). Gleb Kostarev, Binance’s head of operations for Russia and the CIS, told Cointelegraph that the exchange announced the news immediately after the exchange received a notification from Roskomnadzor.

The transparency of CZ in running Binance has remained one of the endearing attributes of the exchange and I don't think anyone can fault that. Making the announcement immediately the restriction was made instead of trying to mask it was a step in the right direction.

However, this restriction does not lawfully prohibit Russians from accessing Binance so everything for now acts as normal.

That's how it starts most times. Gradually, the blacklist will spread to banning citizens from using the Binance exchange. It's like the gift of the devil, it lures its prey and gradually destroys it. So, we shouldn't close our eyes and assume all is well with Binance's customers from Russia. If I were a Russian citizen resident in Russia I would move my assets out of Binance into a different exchange at once.

[Artemis3]

A few hours ago Binance, the largest exchange platform has been blacklisted by Roskomnadzor (Russian telecom regulator) on the grounds that the exchange is "disseminating prohibited information".

To this extent the real reasons behind this remain unknown. Is this a new attempt to cripple blockchain and its descendant coins?
What are your thoughts?

I'm actually more interested in what this "prohibited information" was. If a State wants to ban something, it must be good. Lets not forget the Chinese are as bad or worse than Russians in this field, so its not like a Russian exchange can go to China and criticize the gov, it would get the same treatment or worse.

Most of the countries in the world, especially the large and powerful, do not want people freely expressing themselves, they consider it a threat to "national security" (its actually a threat to the State).

The UN might consider freedom of though to be a human right, but reality is much different, and not just in "those" countries...

The people, the masses have only one enemy: Their own State that oppresses them. Rarely its a foreign State, but usually its their own.

[Kahan848]

Is this a new attempt to cripple blockchain and its descendant coins?

Absolutely. Anyway, Russian legislation is far from reality, they impose dozens of anti-human laws but enforce them selectively when needed

[fiulpro]

Russian government is too dominant on the people , I do think they want to do this for the following purposes:

- it would be a warning for the big crypto platform , the other cryptocurrencies and the people using them

- it might mean that in the following year they might impose strict regulations and might even ban cryptocurrencies

-

The Central Bank of Russia states that: "Most operations with cryptocurrencies are performed outside the legal regulation of both the Russian Federation and most other states. Cryptocurrencies are not guaranteed or provided by the Bank of Russia."

Clearly they don't stand with cryptocurrencies and for the future wants to make sure that centralized investments are prefered by people.

It's all about showing the power government has , which is absolute nonsense

[yulchatar]

I'm actually more interested in what this "prohibited information" was.

Binance has already published on their website an official appeal to users, which says what kind of prohibited information it was - "this is information about the possibility of purchasing electronic cryptocurrency (Bitcoin)."

[DarkDays]

Russia has definitely being ramping up its anti-blockchain efforts lately.

I also read that they are considering handing out jail terms to people that don't declare their cryptocurrency wallets. Pretty ridiculous really. I mean, for one they've got no chance of actually enforcing that, and two they don't even tax crypto before it has been spent... So why declare before spending?

Looks like Russia won't be claiming the title of next crypto hotspot any time soon.

[Baofeng]

What do you expect though? I mean they have been in total contradiction as far as crypto goes since 2017, so I'm not surprised by their government blacklisting Binance or any other crypto currency for that matter. Blockchain? Nah, they're not as blockchain friendly as China though. And with this news, I would say that they are putting a tighter grip on their people specially that Russia is one of biggest market for cryptocurrency today. And this is a message for any other crypto exchanges as well. Maybe they are afraid of capital flight, or illicit activity or terrorism, but for me this is an excuse. They just want to have control and they don't want to give freedom to their people.

[squatter]

To this extent the real reasons behind this remain unknown. Is this a new attempt to cripple blockchain and its descendant coins?

No, I doubt that. The Russian government has been blacklisting cryptocurrency-related sites and exchanges for at least 5-6 years. They have blocked access to hundreds of sites, so Binance is in good company. Site operators usually just spin up mirror sites to prevent downtime and loss of access.

In this case, they didn't even block access. They just added Binance to the official blacklist. You still don't even need a VPN to access Binance from Russia. That's why nobody even noticed this until now. This all happened 3 months ago, in June.

[hatshepsut93]

Remember how people were hoping that Russia will officially adopt Bitcoin to circumvent the sanctions? People who were seriously thinking this just don't know Russia well, Russian government is super paranoid and loves to control anything that they view as a threat to their rule. Roskomnadzor was banning sites left and right all these years, at one point they even banned reddit and other big platforms. Crypto can be used to fund their opposition, and it can be enough argument to ban it to them.

[bravecryptodude]

That seems like a temporary blacklist for me. Hopefully it get resolved as soon as possible.

[rodskee]

A few hours ago Binance, the largest exchange platform has been blacklisted by Roskomnadzor (Russian telecom regulator) on the grounds that the exchange is "disseminating prohibited information".

However, this restriction does not lawfully prohibit Russians from accessing Binance so everything for now acts as normal.

So far it has been tentatively speculated that this decision has got nothing to do with Bianance's plan to launch a 'crypto debit card' in Russia.

In fact, very little is know as to what was the real cause of this measure. To read more about this story, click here.

To this extent the real reasons behind this remain unknown. Is this a new attempt to cripple blockchain and its descendant coins?
What are your thoughts?

Does the telecom regulator represents the whole russian government and will stop the whole operation of binance in Russia?if soes then we must be rattle but if not?then lets just ignore the case and let the party continue.
Russian government as i believe is not against crypto so why would they harassed the exchange in performing their job to let people trade ?

That seems like a temporary blacklist for me. Hopefully it get resolved as soon as possible.

yeah maybe there are some things that binance need to prove and pass for them to be taken from black lists.

[Kemarit]

Russian government is one of the oppressive ones and does not give financial freedom to it's citizen unless they are the people on or affiliated to the government. Binance could have failed to deliver the info asked by the government about some users hence the wrath. The only reason why crypto trade exist in Russia is due to the sanctions. Russia and Russian are using crypto to deal with US and Europe for off paper business.

Not just Binance, but all other services that has been block was due to their non-compliance to Russian Government. Like in the case of Telegram in 2018, wherein they requested access to encryption keys, Moscow court bans Telegram messaging app .

But the question is, will this kind of blacklisting will stop Russian from involving themselves to crypto? I doubt it, perhaps this won't simply stop them just because Binance is block. They might find other ways to trade although it will be risky on their part.

[ampu]

Russia's moves are quite confusing, in the past they encouraged mining and selling cryptocurrencies abroad. Their ban on Binance also meant that Russians could not sell their crypto on such a large exchange.
Maybe they are preparing to open an electronic trading platform? I know a Russian exchange called Nominex and have a license in Estonia.