WhiteBIT denied the claims of the Russian Attorney General that it had facilitated illegal money transfers from Russia to fund the Ukrainian army.
The Ukrainian crypto exchange indicated that it has not been active in Russian territory since the outbreak of the war between the two countries.
WhiteBIT rejects Russian accusations
In an official statement, WhiteBIT rejected the Russian ban and stated that it had completely ceased all activities in that country shortly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
“After the start of the large-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022, WhiteBIT took a clear stand: it blocked all users from Russia and Belarus and stopped trading pairs with the Russian ruble,” the statement said.
The centralized exchange also indicated that this decision cost the company about 30% of its users at that time.
This explanation comes a few days after the Russian Attorney General announced a ban on WhiteBIT, labeling it as an “undesirable organization.”
This step followed accusations from Russia that the exchange may have facilitated illegal money transfers out of the country and financed the Ukrainian military.
Alleged transfers described as donations
Russian authorities accused WhiteBIT's management of transferring approximately $11 million to Ukraine since 2022. In response, WhiteBIT stated that these funds did not originate from Russia itself.
“In the four years of full-scale war, WhiteBIT has donated approximately 11 million USD from its own funds in support of the Ukrainian army and humanitarian initiatives for civilians,” the company stated.
Furthermore, Russian officials claimed that WhiteBIT had provided technical support to UNITED24, the state-supported crypto donation platform of Ukraine.
WhiteBIT confirmed that it has collaborated with United24 by deploying Whitepay, a crypto payment service used to facilitate crypto donations for the platform and other humanitarian foundations in Ukraine.
“In total, WhiteBIT and Whitepay have facilitated more than 160 million USD in crypto donations, supporting both humanitarian and defense-oriented goals.”
The exchange announced that despite its exit from the Russian market and the initial loss of users, the company has now become more than eight times larger.
Ukraine accelerates crypto usage during war
Although Ukraine has long been at the forefront of cryptocurrency use, adoption accelerated significantly after the invasion by Russia.
More and more people started using crypto for fundraising and donations because it offers a faster and more efficient way to send money where it is needed. This shift began even before the large-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
According to a report from Elliptic, Ukrainian NGOs and volunteer groups created crypto wallets to receive donations, raising over $570,000 in just 2021.
In February 2022, the Ukrainian parliament approved a law that officially legalized cryptocurrencies.
After one year of war between Russia and Ukraine, this amount was approximately 122 times higher. According to a report by Chainalysis in 2023, donations to addresses provided by the Ukrainian government have risen to nearly $70 million.
Crypto usage remains popular among Ukrainians. Although basic legislation has now legalized digital assets, authorities are continuing to work on full regulation and an official tax framework.