Binance.US will stop Fiat withdrawals as early as June 13
The fallout from the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) civil lawsuit against Binance, the most popular crypto exchange by volume, continues this week, with Binance.US, the US arm of the global exchange, announces a temporary halt to all fiat withdrawals late Thursday 8 June.
The exchange attributed the move, which is expected to take effect as early as June 13, 2023, to the banking partners, who have indicated their intention to suspend USD fiat operations with the company.
“As a result,” Binance.US wrote on its Twitter account yesterday, “in an effort to protect our customers and our platform, today we are suspending USD deposits and notifying customers that our bank partners are preparing to pause fiat (USD) withdrawal channels as early as 13 June 2023. We encourage customers to take appropriate action with their USD.”
The SEC has taken to using extremely aggressive and intimidating tactics in pursuit of an ideological campaign against the US digital asset industry. and our business partners have not been spared in the use of these tactics, which has created… pic.twitter.com/rlIe6swIoY
— Binance.US 🇺🇸 (@BinanceUS) 9 June 2023
Switching to an all-crypto model “for a time”
This has led Binance.US to transition, at least for the time being, to an entirely crypto model. The exchange, which is managed by BAM Trading, has assured its users that it maintains one-to-one reserves for all customers and that all operations are currently operating as usual despite the impending changes.
“Any downtime in processing withdrawals may be a result of elevated volumes and weekend bank closures,” Binance.US’ statement said. “Furthermore, crypto trading, betting, deposits and withdrawals remain fully operational.”
In addition to the suspension of USD deposits and withdrawals, Binance.US has also announced that all USD trading pairs (such as BTC-USD) will be suspended in the coming week. Furthermore, the platform announced that any USD balances held after June 15 can be converted into stablecoins that can be withdrawn on-chain.
The SEC’s latest filing represents legal maneuvering rather than genuine concern for customers and the safety of their assets.
The SEC has shown by bringing this case, and countless others, that its true interest lies in political tribunes and land… https://t.co/rt2acDzzqD
— Binance.US 🇺🇸 (@BinanceUS) 6 June 2023
The SEC lawsuit, which Binance.US has described as containing “unwarranted civil claims,” has prompted the platform to take a combative tone on social media with the regulatory agency, repeatedly claiming that the SEC’s tactics and approach to industry regulation are both aggressive and misinformed . .
Binance.US itself has had a particularly turbulent history, with its former CEO, Catherine Coley, disappearing from the public eye and her successor, Brian Brooks, also stepping down after a short stint. Brooks had previously given testimony to the SEC questioning the exchange’s supposed independence.
Editor’s note: This article was written by an nft employee in collaboration with OpenAI’s GPT-4.
