Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, provided Russian authorities with transaction details of a client who donated to Ukrainian fundraising efforts, according to law enforcement documents. The information was used by Russian investigators to bring terrorism financing charges against Yuri Belenkiy, a Russian IT specialist and resident of Bulgaria. While Binance stated in 2023 that it had fully exited the Russian market, the documents indicate the exchange continued to respond to data requests from Moscow.
The case involves donations totaling more than $700 sent to the Ukrainian military and the Azov Brigade, which Russia designates as a terrorist organization. Belenkiy was detained in September 2025, and the Russian Investigative Committee alleged in October that he made the payments between January 2023 and March 2024. The donations were reportedly made in response to an online appeal by Arkady Babchenko, an exiled critic of the Russian government.
According to the documents, Russian investigators contacted Binance via an email address specifically designated for Russian and Belarusian law enforcement. Binance responded with a data file containing Belenkiy's transaction history, date of birth, address, telephone number, passport number, and copies of both his Russian passport and Bulgarian residency permit. Binance stated that it cooperates with lawful information requests from global law enforcement subject to legal and privacy requirements, but declined to comment on the specific case.
The scale of the reported data sharing involves a specific transfer of over $700, but the documents show that Russian investigators also requested the identities of other users who transferred funds to the same cryptocurrency wallet. It is not yet known how many other Binance users may have had their data shared with Russian authorities. For a typical user, this development means that transactions once thought to be private or shielded by a company's withdrawal from a market may still be accessible to government investigators, potentially impacting their legal standing or safety depending on the jurisdiction of their citizenship.
Legal experts suggested this data transfer may set a precedent regarding the application of the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). If Belenkiy was registered as an EU resident, the disclosure of his data to Russia—a country the EU does not recognize as having adequate data protections—could constitute a breach of European law. The Commission for Personal Data Protection in Bulgaria and the European Data Protection Board have not confirmed if an investigation is underway. Belenkiy remains in a Russian jail awaiting trial, and it is not yet reported when his court proceedings will conclude.