Binance.US, the American arm of the popular cryptocurrency exchange, announced today the suspension of USD deposits and urged users to withdraw their fiat deposits from the platform. The exchange’s banking partners will soon pause fiat withdrawal services, scheduled to take effect by June 13.
Taking to Twitter, Binance.US has said that “In an effort to protect our customers and platform, today we are suspending USD deposits and notifying customers that our banking partners are preparing to pause fiat (USD) withdrawal channels as early as June 13, 2023. We encourage customers to take appropriate action with their USD,” stated Binance.US in a notice.
This strategic move positions Binance.US as a crypto-only exchange while assuring customers that trading, staking, and deposits and withdrawals in cryptocurrency will remain operational.
“To be clear, we maintain 1:1 reserves for all customer assets. Any downtime in processing withdrawals may be the result of elevated volumes and weekend bank closures,” added the exchange, addressing concerns about withdrawal processing.
The decision to suspend fiat services comes in the wake of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) formally charging Binance, its two US affiliates, and CEO Changpeng Zhao with a range of allegations, including commingling customer funds, operating an illegal exchange, and listing unregistered securities.
Binance.US attributed the suspension of fiat services to regulatory pressure faced by its banking partners, who have encountered challenges in their collaboration with the exchange. Earlier this year, Binance.US lost two banking partners, Silvergate Bank and Signature Bank, leading the exchange to resort to intermediary banks while actively seeking a direct banking partner.