Binance Temporarily Halts US Bank Transfers
• Binance announced that it is temporarily suspending US dollar withdrawals and deposits for all international customers beginning February 8.
• All other transfer methods will not be affected, only impacting a small portion of their users.
• Binance US, the company’s regulated unit by the Treasury Department, is not affected by this suspension.
What Led to This Decision?
Binance has been facing banking challenges in the United States due to its banking partner Signature Bank raising transaction minimums for dollar transfers to $100,000 for users with USD bank accounts. The exchange has been searching for a new partner to process its SWIFT payments since then. As a result of these increasing difficulties, Binance made the decision to temporarily halt US bank transfers from February 8th onwards.
Who Does This Impact?
This suspension affects non-U.S customers who transfer money to or from bank accounts in dollars and does not affect Binance US customers as they are regulated differently by the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. In addition, only “0.01% of our average monthly users are serviced by Signature Bank” according to an email sent out by Binance to impacted users.
Impact on Crypto Banks
Signature Bank and Silvergate are two of the biggest crypto banks that were hit hard by last year’s crypto market meltdown which saw around $2 trillion worth of value wiped out of the crypto market. Both banks have received billions in loans from Federal Home Loan Banks following the collapse of FTX Exchange.
Conclusion
Due to increasing banking difficulties, Binance made the decision to suspend US bank transfers starting February 8th. This will only impact non-U.S customers transferring money with USD bank accounts and does not affect those using Binance US as they are regulated differently by authorities such as FinCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network). Furthermore, Signature Bank and Silvergate have both received billions in loans after suffering financially due to last year’s crypto market crash which resulted in significant losses across the industry