One of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges Binance is set to temporarily suspend bank transfers or withdrawals to US dollars on Feb. 8 while other means of payment will still be operational as per the latest report.
Meanwhile, Binance did not provide any justification or explanation to that effect but it maintains that it does not apply to Binance.US users as only 0.01% of active users will be affected by the latest development.
It is instructive to note that the announcement came without warning barely two days in advance. The read partly reads:
“We are working hard to restart the service as soon as possible… All other methods of buying and selling crypto remain unaffected.”
Speaking on the development, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) emphasised that the USD bank transfers are only leveraged by only 0.01% of the exchange’s monthly users. While he acknowledged that it was a bad experience, he promised to resolve it speedily.
However, CZ tacitly linked the development to the policy of some banks refusing to support crypto withdrawal. He explained while some banks were moving in to support crypto, others pulled out thereby serving as setbacks.
It is noteworthy that Binance has been experiencing banking challenges in the United States recently. Its SWIFT transfer partner, Signature Bank, on Jan. 21 disclosed that it would no longer process trades into USD bank accounts above $100,000 from Feb. 1.
A Review of the Binance Payment System
In a bid to intimate customers of development on crypto withdrawal to USD bank accounts, Binance on Feb. 1 published a list of 444 countries where USD SWIFT transfers would be suspended going forward.
There is no mincing word that Binance had had a fair share of the growing challenges facing the crypto space. Recall that Binance recorded more than $1.14 billion outflow on Dec 13 even though the exchange remains undaunted and functional.
Nonetheless, Binance was adorned as the most dominant crypto exchange in 2022 following a comprehensive review of crypto exchanges by Arcane Research.
