The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance has expanded its presence in Russia, Ukraine and Eastern Europe through a series of new appointments. Olga Goncharova will take up the position of GR Director for Russia and CIS, while Vladimir Smerkis will become Binance’s Director for Russia.

In addition, Kirill Khomyakov has been appointed general manager in Ukraine, Kommersant reports. Olga Goncharova previously headed the department of collection and processing of reports at the Bank of Russia for seven years. Vladimir Smerkis previously worked at Mail.ru Group, A1 TV channel, Global Point agency and Red Bull.

Kirill Khomyakov has served as head of the State Agency for Infrastructure Projects of Ukraine since 2019, and has also worked at Intesa San Paolo, BNP Paribas, Piraeus Bank and Mellon Ukraine. In Russia, the cryptocurrency market is ambiguously regulated – the country has had a law on digital financial assets in place for a year now, but their taxation and mining formally remain in a gray zone. At the same time, last year the capitalization of bitcoin alone reached $1 trillion, exceeding the money supply of the ruble. However, 2022 began for the cryptocurrency market with sell-offs. Against the background of the situation in Kazakhstan and the monetary policy of the Federal Reserve System, virtual currencies updated multi-month lows.