Binance Changpeng Zhao Denies Ownership of CommEX Following Sale of Russian Entity

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has distanced himself and the company from the ownership of CommEX, the newly launched digital asset exchange that will take possession of Binance’s Russian entity. 

In a Sept 28 post on X (formerly Twitter), the CEO denied all forms of ownership either personally, by representative, or by proxy clarifying that former Binance staff in the region may choose to join their team in the short term or the future.

“I am not their UBO, nor do I own any shares there. The deal does not have any buy back options. (A google search seem to show some businesses like Mercedes, McDonalds, Nissan have buy back options in their Russia sell off deal. This is not the case here.)” 

Zhao addressed the issues following speculations that he owned CommEX due to the low-key nature of the agreement and the fact that the exchange was just few days old. 

The company has also revealed that it has no revenue split or share buyback like other companies with the new exchange and noted that the transitional exit period from Russia will take a few months. 

CZ throws more light on the change 

Aside from denying ownership of the exchange, Zhao addressed other issues including the transfer of assets and similar designs.

Per the post, there would be transfers between both companies as the transition takes effect. This is because users will be migrated to CommEX adding that older transactions will be included.

“There are also older transactions during the testing phase of the integrations. This is expected.” 

He explained that Binance specifically requested the similarity in designs and APIs between both companies to ensure a smooth user experience.

Furthermore, he revealed that CommEX does not offer services to United States and EU users. 

“They have IP and KYC blocks. This is a term we asked for in the deal,” he added.

Binance bids Russia farewell after a month-long “chaos”

After months of uncertainty sparked by an investigation into its alleged breach of sanctions imposed on Russian institutions, the exchange announced its exit from the country.

Although financial details remain unknown raising further eyebrows, Binance disclosed that it has sold the whole Russian arm to the newly launched exchange CommEX adding that all assets of Russian users are safe and secure. 

Noah Perlman, Binance Compliance Chief stated that Russia is incompatible with the Exchange compliance strategy adding, “We remain confident in the long-term growth of the Web3 industry around the world and will focus our energy on the 100+ other countries in which we operate.”