https://ift.tt/bDspxOv joins Russia’s Bank Association as its first crypto member

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has become the first crypto-centric entity to join the Association of Banks of Russia (ABR), the company announced last Friday.

“Binance, the world’s leading blockchain ecosystem, is announcing its membership in the Association of Banks of Russia to provide a dialog with federal authorities, legislators, experts in the field of digital financial assets and digital currencies,” Binance Russia explained.

Simultaneously, the ABR’s Presidium announced the creation of the new “Expert Center for Digital Financial Assets and Digital Currencies” that would focus on a wide range of issues pertaining to crypto regulation. Olga Goncharova, Binance government relations director in Russia and the CIS, was appointed as the head of this new body.

Among other things, the new center will focus on preparing “professional opinions on the circulation of digital financial assets and digital currencies” as well as providing the ABR and its representatives with “expert and analytical materials on this topic to generalize and disseminate international experience.”

“As the largest cryptocurrency ecosystem in the world, Binance has a solid track record of working with regulators. I am sure that our developments and our expertise will be positively received by the Russian banking community,” Gleb Kostarev, Binance director for Eastern Europe, told RBC.

Embracing regulation

Notably, this is the latest instance of Binance embracing regulation around the world. As CryptoSlate reported, the exchange similarly announced that it signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Dubai World Trade Centre Authority to “outline the vision of accelerating the set-up of a new industry hub for global virtual assets” last December.

“With the MoU, Binance will help advance Dubai’s commitment to establishing a new international Virtual Asset ecosystem that will generate long-term economic growth through digital innovation,” the company explained.

At the same time, Binance also faced its fair share of heat from regulators last year. Once bitten, twice shy.