CommEx, viewed as Russia's counterpart to Binance, has announced its shutdown. The cryptocurrency exchange began barring new sign-ups and is shutting down operations. The unexpected move follows Binance's discreet exit from Russia, bringing in a slew of surprises.
The community is abuzz as the shutdown begins. CommEx has already ceased taking new deposits in both cryptocurrency and fiat currencies. Futures trading will end later this week, and peer-to-peer listings will end on April 2. With the spot market ending on April 23, CommEx's website will go offline by May 10.
Crypto holders must choose between withdrawing quickly or paying a 1% fee on any funds remaining after May 10. CommEx urges consumers to quickly secure their valuables.
This closure follows Binance's sale of its Russian operations to CommEx, ending the platform's brief existence. The collapse of CommEx has injected uncertainty and new hurdles into Russia's crypto market, mirroring the industry's worldwide volatility and regulatory headwinds.