KuCoin said Thursday it is discontinuing services for users in Russia and Belarus with immediate effect, without publishing a public date by which those customers must move their funds.
In its notice, the exchange said the shutdown covers access to all KuCoin products, services, and features. The company pointed to applicable legal and regulatory requirements, but it did not name a specific rule or sanctions measure.
KuCoin said affected customers will receive a notification containing the relevant deadlines and instructions for an orderly closure. The exchange added that it intends to allow those users to close positions and withdraw assets. Users who do not receive such a message do not need to do anything, the company said.
KuCoin did not say how many accounts are affected or how much in assets the move involves.
Bank of Russia names a self-regulatory body for the sector
Also on Thursday, the Bank of Russia said crypto exchange operators and digital depositories listed on its registers have 90 days to join a self-regulatory organization. The central bank said it had entered the first such body for those firms into its register of self-regulators.
Neither KuCoin, the Bank of Russia, nor NAUFOR linked the two announcements.
Membership is mandatory under Federal Law No. 282-FZ of Aug. 4, Russia’s law on digital currencies and digital rights, which took effect on Sept. 1. Sberbank is among the firms the central bank has since added to both registers.
The new self-regulator is the National Association of Securities Market Participants, or NAUFOR. NAUFOR said the Bank of Russia granted it that status on Oct. 29.
NAUFOR said its role will include helping draft industry standards, checking whether firms comply with them, and representing the sector before the Bank of Russia as laws and regulations are revised.
A securities-industry group founded in 1996 with 725 members, NAUFOR was already a self-regulator for operators of digital financial asset platforms, and seven such operators have joined.
Russian users have fewer offshore options
For crypto users in Russia, Thursday leaves one fewer large offshore exchange available for trading, while registered domestic firms now have 90 days to join an industry self-regulator.
KuCoin users in Russia will learn how long they have to remove assets only through the notice sent by the exchange, since no public deadline has been posted.
KuCoin is at least the third offshore exchange to scale back in Russia this month. MEXC said on Oct. 20 that users in Russia and Belarus would lose service. Bitget also cut off clients in Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan starting Oct. 21, according to Interfax.
