Crypto Exchange Bybit Suspends USD Deposits
Crypto exchange Bybit announced on Saturday a suspension of US dollar (USD) deposits for domestic and international customers.
“We have temporarily suspended USD deposits via bank transfer (including SWIFT) due to service disruptions from our endpoint processing partner until further notice,” the exchange said, adding that withdrawals will be stopped from March 10.
However, users can continue to deposit and withdraw crypto to and from wallet addresses and purchase funds via credit cards and other payment methods.
“The payment gateway outage is limited in scope and does not involve other fiat or cryptocurrencies and/or account funding channels. Users can still purchase cryptocurrencies in USD using their debit and credit cards through other channels. We are carefully encouraging our partners for alternative solutions. and will keep our users and stakeholders updated as soon as there are further developments,” a Bybit spokesperson told CoinDesk.
Bybit’s move comes a month after Binance, the world’s largest digital asset exchange by trading volume, shut down dollars transfers and amid a crisis at Silvergate, a California-based lender known for providing traditional banking services to crypto firms, including exchanges. Last week, Silvergate said it was assessing its “ability to continue as a going concern” and delayed filing its annual report with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
According to Markus Thielen, head of research and strategy at crypto service provider Matrixport, Bybit’s decision to follow Binance’s lead amid the Silvergate crisis is a big deal for the crypto market.
“When Binance stopped USD transfers in January, bitcoin prices fell -10%. Of course, Binance has a much bigger impact than other exchanges, but now ByBit will also stop USD transfers from March 10 onwards. This action is now preventing SWIFT (international) and Wire Transfers (domestic) to reach some crypto exchanges and is actually a BIG deal,” Thielen said in a note to clients.
“Three data points certainly constitute a trend that there is a deliberate attempt to cut USD access for crypto exchanges and crypto firms,” Thielen added.
DIRECTION (March 6, 2023, 08:46 UTC): Corrects to say that Silvergate, not Bybit, evaluates the situation in the fifth paragraph.
UPDATE (March 6 08:52 UTC): Adds comments from Bybit’s spokesperson in the fourth paragraph.
