The fallout from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) civil lawsuit against Binance, the most popular crypto exchange by volume, continues this week with Binance.US, the U.S. arm of the global exchange, announcement of a temporary stop on all fiat withdrawals by the end of Thursday, June 8.
The exchange credited the move, which is expected to take effect as early as June 13, 2023, to its banking partners, who have indicated their intention to suspend USD fiat operations with the company.
“As a result,” Binance.US wrote on his Twitter account yesterday: “in an effort to protect our customers and our platform, today we are suspending USD deposits and informing customers that our banking partners are preparing to pause fiat (USD) withdrawal channels as early as June 13, 2023 . We encourage customers to take appropriate action with their USD.”
The SEC has begun using extremely aggressive and intimidating tactics in its pursuit of an ideological campaign against the US digital asset industry. https://t.co/AZwoBOgsqS and our business partners have not been spared in using these tactics, making… pic.twitter.com/rlIe6swIoY
— Binance.US 🇺🇸 (@BinanceUS) June 9, 2023
Switching to a full crypto model “for a while”.
This has led Binance.US to move, at least for now, to a full crypto model. The exchange, which is operated by BAM Trading, has reassured its users that it maintains one-to-one reserves for all clients and that all operations are currently operating normally despite the impending changes.
“Any downtime in the processing of withdrawals may be due to increased volumes and bank closures over the weekend,” said the Binance.US statement. “In addition, crypto trading, staking, deposits and withdrawals remain fully operational.”
In addition to the suspension of USD deposits and withdrawals, Binance.US has also announced that all USD trading pairs (e.g. BTC-USD) will be suspended in the coming week. Furthermore, the platform announced that all USD balances held after June 15 can be converted into stablecoins that can be withdrawn on-chain.
The SEC’s latest filing represents legal maneuvering rather than genuine concern for https://t.co/AZwoBOgsqS clients and the safety of their assets.
The SEC has shown in bringing this case, and countless others, that its true interest lies in political grandeur and country… https://t.co/rt2acDzzqD
— Binance.US 🇺🇸 (@BinanceUS) June 6, 2023
The SEC lawsuit, which Binance.US has described as containing “unwarranted civil claims”, has caused the platform to take a combative tone on social media with the regulatory body, repeatedly claiming that the tactics and approach of the SEC of industry regulation are both aggressive and misinformed. .
Binance.US itself has had a particularly turbulent history, with former CEO, Catherine Coley, fading from public view and her successor, Brian Brooks, also stepping down after a short tenure. Brooks had previously testified to the SEC that questioned the exchange’s supposed independence.
Editor’s Note: This article was written by an nft now contributor in collaboration with OpenAI’s GPT-4.