CommEX shuts down after purchasing Russian Binance operations

CommEX has announced that it will “completely shut down the official website on 10 May” due to “strategic planning adjustments,” according to a blog post on its support website.

CommEX purchased Binance’s Russian operations in September, though questions swirled about the ownership and financial entanglements between Binance and this newly formed entity. 

Binance raises red flags by selling Russian arm to brand-new CommEX

These concerns were compounded when users noticed that CommEX seemed strikingly similar to Binance, leading many to assume that it was a white-label Binance Cloud-based exchange. 

This was compounded by the fact that CommEX offered a ‘Log in with Binance.com’ option, making it easy for users of Binance in Russia to quickly transition to the incredibly similar CommEX. 

Even Changpeng Zhao, then-chief exec of Binance, added that BNB users would “continue to enjoy a 25% trading fee discount on” CommEX. 

Read more: Why do this obscure Russian exchange’s emails come from Binance?

The original announcement six months ago from Binance noted that “the off-boarding process will take up to one year.” Since that time, Binance and Zhao have pled guilty to felony charges in the US, including violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, failure to register as a money services business, and failure to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program.

Protos reached out to CommEX for clarification on what ‘strategic planning adjustments’ led to the decision to shut down the exchange and for clarification on the relationship with Binance, but they did not immediately respond. We will update this if we hear back.

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