MediumI Geo-Economics & Chokepoints29 October 2026, Thursday
KuCoin becomes third major exchange to drop Russian and Belarusian users
KuCoin said on 29 October that it had ended all services for users in Russia and Belarus, The Moscow Times reported, citing RBC Crypto. It is the third major exchange to take the step in October, after Bitget and MEXC; all 3 rank in CoinMarketCap's top 10.
The Moscow Times says KuCoin ranks 8th on CoinMarketCap, with daily trading volume of about 1.2 billion dollars and about 45 million users. Affected users will be told individually how long they have to close positions and withdraw assets. The number of users in Russia and Belarus was not disclosed and could not be verified. According to the Russian service of The Moscow Times, Bitget banned new trades from these countries from 18 October and required positions to be closed by 10:00 on 21 October. InvestFuture reports that MEXC announced the same decision on 20 October and said users' assets were safe.
The reasons for the exit are compliance costs and the risk of secondary sanctions, which target third-country firms doing business with Russia. BestChange analyst Nikita Zuborev says these two factors have made serving Russian users too risky. In July 2026 the EU sanctioned the HTX exchange for helping Russia evade sanctions. An exchange representative quoted by the Russian service of The Moscow Times said European regulators stepped up pressure in October on platforms working with Russian clients. Kazakhstan was already on Bitget's list of restricted countries before 18 October.
Talay assessment
Bottom line
Three major exchanges leaving within a month shows that the HTX designation has served as a deterrent for the industry. The constraint is not regulation but the price of secondary sanctions risk. For Russian users, crypto was a payment channel around sanctions; that channel is narrowing, and flows will shift to small, unregulated platforms. Because the actual volume lost has not been disclosed, the scale of the impact is uncertain.
Likely effects
- Russian external paymentsNegative1–6 months
The closure of channels on major exchanges raises the cost and delay of using crypto intermediaries for import payments.
- Smaller platformsUncertain1–6 months
Russian and Belarusian users move to exchanges and intermediaries outside the top 10, and those platforms become targets for the next sanctions round.
- Central AsiaNegative1–6 months
Bitget keeping Kazakhstan on its restricted list shows that intermediary routes in the region are also under compliance screening.
Possibilities, ranked
- 1The exodus continues55%
Other top-10 exchanges also restrict Russian users, and flows move to smaller platforms.
Watch: Russia and Belarus announcements by other exchanges in CoinMarketCap's top 10
- 2It becomes a sanctions round30%
The EU lists new HTX-style crypto platforms in its next package.
Watch: Crypto provisions in the EU's next Russia sanctions package
- 3Russian alternatives grow15%
Russian users move smoothly to domestic and smaller platforms, and the impact of the 3 exits stays limited.
Watch: Independent data on Russian crypto payment volumes
Probabilities are calibrated judgement based on the sources, not measurement, and are revised as new information arrives. Not investment advice.
Market reaction
Indicators affected
- Major exchanges exiting in Oct▼ 3
- KuCoin daily volume▼ $1.2bn