In a move aligning with Binance's recent decisions, OKX and Bybit have delisted Tinkoff and Sberbank from their payment options, amid international sanctions.
How will this impact cryptocurrency trades and are there backdoor transactions at play? Dive in to find out.
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Major Platforms Like OKX and Bybit Delist Tinkoff and Sberbank
Two significant cryptocurrency exchanges, OKX and Bybit, have followed Binance's footsteps in removing certain Russian banks, which are under international financial sanctions, from their payment options.
Specifically, Tinkoff Bank and Sberbank are no longer visible on the P2P trading lists of Bybit and OKX.
According to Russian media sources, local users are now unable to receive fiat money in their Tinkoff Bank or Sberbank accounts as a counter-value for cryptocurrencies on the P2P platforms of OKX and Bybit. There has been no official statement from the representatives of either company.
However, as of the last update, OKX still permits its users to receive fiat in accounts of Raiffeisen Bank and Russian Standard Bank branches in Russia.
Notably, these financial institutions are not on the U.S. Treasury's sanctioned entities list.
Previous Actions by Binance
Last week, attention was refocused on the inclusion of sanctioned Russian banks in cryptocurrency exchanges' payment options when The Wall Street Journal reported that Binance had listed Tinkoff Bank and Sberbank as transfer methods.
By August 24th, Tinkoff and Sberbank vanished from Binance's P2P platform, but the options colored 'yellow' and 'green', symbolizing their brand colors, remained.
The following day, WSJ quoted a Binance spokesperson, stating that the sanctioned banks had been completely removed from the list.
Despite the removal, it seems that Binance P2P users are still advertising sales using the payment method known as the 'green bank'.
These users might reference other payment methods, like Russian Standard Bank or Akbars Bank, but clearly specify under 'advertiser conditions' that they only accept transfers via the 'green bank'.
According to some media outlets, similar actions are seen on OKX and Bybit where sellers, in private communications, are offering exchange options through the sanctioned banks.