On September 27, the Binance cryptocurrency exchange announced the closure of its Russian division and sold the business to CommEX. ForkLog spoke with the regional director of the company in Russia and the CIS, Anton Toroptsev, who shared the details of the deal and plans for the future.
Current issues
Regarding the transfer of old clients, the manager explained that the process will occur in stages. First of all, 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 are [у клиентов] on Binance. So far we don’t have many coins available for input, but we will gradually add more and more in order to gain critical mass by the time of the full transition,” Toroptsev emphasized.
In parallel, CommEX will optimize key services and products, and will also increase liquidity in trading books.
The migration process itself will take about a year, the top manager said. With a fortunate combination of circumstances, he allowed it to end earlier, but much depends on the “readiness of the platform to accept all Binance users.”
“Of course, there are fears that some clients will move to other sites. But this is inevitable, because everyone chooses for themselves where to trade. I can say for sure that we will make every effort to earn trust and constantly improve our product,” said the regional director of CommEX.
According to Toroptsev, the main goal is to create a convenient and secure platform for trading cryptocurrencies, adapted to the needs of the local audience. The company sets itself the goal of entering at least the top 3 crypto exchanges in terms of trading volume in Russia.
The manager also confirmed the presence of former Binance employees on the staff, clarifying that they were hired for relevant work experience and high competence.
Anton Toroptsev himself completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the Graduate School of Business of Moscow State University. Lomonosov. From the beginning of his career, he worked in the field of financial technologies: for three years he was responsible for marketing in a management company and was involved in the promotion of a retail investment product – OPIF. Later, the specialist joined the Binance CIS team led by Gleb Kostarev, where for two years he was responsible for attracting users and increasing key metrics.
Future plans
CommEX is still in the process of forming a roadmap, but the company will primarily focus on “products for active traders and marketing tools.” Coming soon to the platform:
- staking;
- grid bots;
- copy trading;
- two-level referral program;
- trading competitions;
- task center.
Toroptsev said that all client funds are stored in exchange wallets. It’s too early to talk about Proof-of-Reserves, but we should expect reports on reserves to appear in the future, the regional director noted.
The new platform is registered in the Seychelles, so CommEX has not yet had the opportunity to communicate with Russian regulators. At the same time, the company is open to dialogue with the authorities, the top manager added.
“The current geopolitical situation has a dual impact on the crypto market in Russia. It is becoming more difficult for users to trade on global platforms due to all sorts of restrictions, while it seems that legislative processes aimed at regulating the crypto industry in the country have so far faded into the background,” Toroptsev said.
At the same time, many local companies are trying to introduce blockchain technologies into their products and are increasingly looking towards interaction with the crypto market, noted the head of CommEX. The retail market is also seeing an influx of new users, especially those who have not previously used digital assets.
According to Toroptsev, they discovered the main advantage of cryptocurrencies – fast and cheap cross-border transfer of value.
“As for the future of digital assets in Russia, I do not expect any significant changes in their status in the short term. Hopefully one day we will have transparent regulation of the industry. This will definitely lead to an increase in its role in the country’s economy and the emergence of innovative fintech products that make the lives of ordinary users easier,” concluded the regional director of CommEX.
Let us remind you that after the departure of Binance, some users have already switched to new platforms. Mostly Russians choose the Bybit exchange. At the same time, overall trade activity in the Russian Federation decreased significantly.
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