Russia labels crypto exchange WhiteBIT as ‘undesirable’

Russia has officially banned Ukrainian-founded cryptocurrency exchange WhiteBIT, escalating efforts to crack down on firms it says are supporting Ukraine’s war effort.

The country’s prosecutor general designated WhiteBIT and its parent company, W Group, as “undesirable organizations,” a legal label that criminalizes any activity involving the firm in Russia.

Russian authorities accused the exchange of building “gray schemes” to channel funds out of the country and supporting the Ukrainian military through financial and technical infrastructure since the start of the war in February 2022.

WhiteBIT, founded in 2018 by Ukrainian entrepreneur Volodymyr Nosov, said in a note shared with CoinDesk that the decision reinforces its commitment to supporting Ukraine.

The company said it left the Russian market in early 2022, shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion began. It blocked all Russian and Belarusian users and removed ruble trading pairs, a move that it says cost it about 30% of its user base at the time.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation, one year into the war, started sending official letters to major cryptocurrency exchanges, including Coinbase, Binance, Bybit and WhitEBIT to block Russian users.

At the time, some exchanges, including Coinbase and Kraken, responded, saying they wouldn’t be enforcing a blanket ban on Russian-linked addresses without being legally required to do so, but would instead block accounts or transactions involving sanctioned entities.

Despite the setback, WhiteBIT said it has grown eightfold since then, now serving over 8 million users and expanding into the U.S. market.

According to Russian prosecutors, WhiteBIT directed at least $11 million to Ukraine’s military, including nearly $1 million for drone procurement. The company confirmed the figures and said its payments processing arm, Whitepay, has facilitated over $160 million in donations to defense and humanitarian efforts.

“Over the four years of full-scale war, WhiteBIT has donated around 11 million USD of its own funds to support Ukraine’s defense forces and humanitarian initiatives for civilians. These actions reflect the company’s values and civic position as a business with roots in Ukraine operating during wartime,” the company said.

Russia’s designation means any Russian citizen who interacts with WhiteBIT could now face criminal charges.