Major crypto exchange to suspend US dollar transfers

Binance will “temporarily” halt transactions in the currency, without providing a reason for the move

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, Binance, has announced it will suspend US dollar deposits and withdrawals, starting on Wednesday.

“We are temporarily suspending USD bank transfers as of February 8. Affected customers are being notified directly,” a Binance spokesperson told reporters on Monday. The company did not explain the decision, but said it was “working hard to restart service as soon as possible.”

According to the statement, just “0.01% of [Binance’s] monthly active users leverage USD bank transfers.”

“In the interim, all other methods of buying and selling crypto remain unaffected, including bank transfer using one of the other fiat currencies supported by Binance (including euros), buying and selling crypto via credit card, debit card, Google Pay and Apple Pay and via our Binance P2P marketplace,” the spokesperson clarified.

According to data from Arkham Intelligence, the news prompted a surge in outflows of dollar-pegged stablecoins from Binance’s crypto wallets. However, data from DefiLlama showed that the exchange’s net US dollar outflow on Monday amounted to only $172 million, while Binance’s overall crypto assets are worth about $42.2 billion. The Binance spokesperson noted that the platform is “still overwhelmingly net-positive on net deposits.”

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Meanwhile, Binance’s US unit said in a tweet that it will not be affected by the measure. Given that the main Binance exchange does not serve American users, the move will apply only to non-US customers who chose to transfer money in US currency.

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