Exmo is the latest crypto trading company to publicly cease operations in Russia and Belarus.
This is as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Exmo CEO Serhii Zhdanov announced this on April 18.
Exmo stated that it is selling its digital asset business in Russia and Belarus to a Russian software development company.
The new owner and the value of the transaction were not disclose at the time of writing.
“Unfortunately, we can’t hold the high-risk component of the company any longer”
“Because worldwide organization does not want to jeopardize its global development goals by having such high-risk markets in its structure,”
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According to Zhdanov, the acquisition includes Exmo’s customer accounts in Russia and Belarus, as well as local fiat onramp systems.
The platform’s technical code is not for sale and is also for the Exmo organization.
Exmo’s ultimate beneficial owner, Eduard Bark, will leave the firm and surrender his interest to Zhdanov.
Aside from Russia and Belarus, the acquisition includes Exmo’s operations in Kazakhsta.
Kazakhsta is where the new owner’s team is situated.
“The unnamed buyer controls both a Russian software development firm and a Kazakhstan-based legal organization for a cryptocurrency exchange”.
“We’ve put a lot of effort into the Russian side of the company, so we’ve ensured that it’s now in excellent hands.”
“The new owner will not only follow the plan that we defined previously, but will also reach the new heights much more quickly”.
“We made this decision to benefit both parties,” Zhdanov explained.
The company also stated that it will not penalize normal individuals or disable any accounts as a result of the measures imposed in mid-March.
Exmo has revised its user agreement to reflect that Russian, Belarusian, and Kazakh people would no longer be onboarded on its platform as part of its withdrawal from Russia and Belarus.
On April 15, the exchange suspended Russian ruble trading pairings.
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Exmo is a large cryptocurrency exchange launched in 2013 by Ivan Petuhovski and Pavel Lerner.
The firm’s withdrawal from Russia would have a substantial influence on the exchange because Russia was one of its primary markets.
“We will also see an almost 30% decline in income”.
“However, we are confident that in the long term, it will accelerate our exponential growth”
“This is to allow the firm to become a unicorn within the next three years.”
“We’d consider returning once Russia is no longer classified as a high-risk country,” Zhdanov said.