James stellerMove comes days after US regulators announced 13 civil charges against Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao.
Binance.US, the US arm of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has announced that it will be suspending dollar deposits starting on June 13. The company said that the move is being made in order to “transition to a crypto-only exchange, just days after US regulators sued Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao.
The US arm of the world’s largest crypto exchange said in a tweet on Thursday that the move comes as it is taking “proactive steps” in its transition to a crypto-only exchange for the time being.
Binance.US will still allow users to trade, stake, and withdraw cryptocurrencies. However, users will no longer be able to deposit US dollars into their accounts. The company said that it will be working with its banking partners to “ensure a smooth transition” for its users.
The move comes just days after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Binance, alleging that the company operated an unregistered securities exchange. The SEC also alleged that Binance failed to register as a broker-dealer and engaged in market manipulation.
Binance has denied the SEC’s allegations. The company said that it is “committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations.”
The suspension of dollar deposits is a major setback for Binance.US. The company had been hoping to become a major player in the US cryptocurrency market. However, the SEC’s lawsuit and the suspension of dollar deposits make it more difficult for Binance.US to achieve its goals.
The move is also a sign of the growing regulatory scrutiny of the cryptocurrency industry. The SEC’s lawsuit against Binance is the latest in a series of regulatory actions against cryptocurrency exchanges. The industry is facing increasing pressure from regulators around the world.
It remains to be seen how the suspension of dollar deposits will impact Binance.US and the cryptocurrency industry as a whole. However, the move is a sign of the growing challenges that the industry is facing.
“Binance.US is a considerably smaller business than their international group. Halting of withdrawals is obviously going to create or spur quite a bit of worry and panic,” said Matthew Dibb, COO of Singapore crypto platform Stack Funds.
“But day after day for the last week, Binance has been hit with various types of comments and issues from the SEC and regulators, so this was really to be expected.”
Prices of cryptocurrencies barely reacted to the news, with Bitcoin last marginally lower at $26,496 during the Asian day on Friday.
It was headed for a weekly loss of about 2 percent, after having dipped to a more than two-month low of $25,350 earlier in the week as the SEC crackdown stoked nerves.
“The reaction has been extremely muted so far. Either the market has shrugged it off, or it hasn’t gotten a handle on it yet,” said Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG Markets.
In its Thursday tweet, Binance.US said that the SEC’s take on cryptocurrency is “extremely aggressive and intimidating”, adding that it will continue to “vigorously defend ourselves, our customers, and industry against the meritless attacks of the SEC”.
The crypto industry has attacked US SEC chair Gary Gensler in recent days following the lawsuits, though he has since rejected criticism that the agency is trying to crush the crypto industry.
“As regulatory scrutiny continues, exchanges, stablecoin issuers and industry players will further specialise in different roles to collectively provide the best user experience,” said Wayne Huang, Co-founder and CEO of XREX Inc, a blockchain-enabled financial institution operating the XREX USD-crypto exchange
James steller
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