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Cryptocurrency exchange Binance is parting ways with two significant executives connected to the Russian market amid substantial regulatory hurdles regarding sanctions.
On September 6, Gleb Kostarev, who leads Eastern Europe and Russia at Binance, took to Facebook to share his decision to leave the company.
In his announcement in Russian, Kostarev mentioned that today is his final day after a lengthy tenure at Binance. He noted that he is resigning from his role as vice president overseeing Eastern Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Turkey, Australia, and New Zealand. Furthermore, he indicated that he had previously stepped down from his responsibilities in the Asia-Pacific region “a few months ago.”
Kostarev expressed his appreciation to Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao and co-founder He Yi for the various opportunities they provided him. “Thanks to all the local initiative teams for their dedicated efforts and impressive campaigns at the local level,” he remarked.
Following this, Vladimir Smerkis, general manager for Russia and CIS at Binance, also announced his departure via Facebook. “It feels like almost two years have passed in an instant, and starting tomorrow, I will no longer be with Binance,” the executive shared.
Neither of the executives provided clear reasons for their exits from Binance. In his announcement, Smerkis promised to elaborate on the reasons for his departure, as well as discuss his future and experiences, at an online or possibly offline gathering in Moscow in a few weeks.
“I’m going on a vacation, which I haven’t had in nearly two years. While you wait, I’ll inundate you with photos of the sea, pizza, and sunsets. And a tip: make room for all these things in your life,” Smerkis remarked.
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The Russian cryptocurrency community reacted swiftly to the recent exits from Binance, with many reaching out to Kostarev and Smerkis in comments, eager to know whether Binance plans to exit the market. In late August, Binance hinted at the possibility of withdrawing its services from Russia in light of Western sanctions.
Binance chose not to comment on the ramifications of the recent layoffs in Russia.
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If Binance does withdraw from Russia, it would likely have significant implications for the company. Data from SimilarWeb indicates that Russia is the leading market in terms of user visits to the Binance.com website, representing 6.3% of total visits.
The announcements of the Russian executives’ departures came just days after Binance advertisements appeared in a video by popular Russian YouTuber Yuri Dud, which was released on August 16. At the time of this writing, the video continues to feature a text promotion for Binance services for Russian users, alongside an in-video advertisement created by the YouTuber.
In addition to these latest departures, Binance has been experiencing a loss of other key executives worldwide. On September 4, Mayur Kamat, head of product at Binance, confirmed his departure from the crypto exchange after nearly two years. Prior to this, Patrick Hillmann, Binance’s chief strategy officer, also left the company in July.
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