​Binance.US will suspend USD deposits and withdrawals

What’s new? On June 9, the US arm of crypto exchange Binance suspended US dollar deposits and notified customers that its banking partners would close fiat withdrawals on June 13, 2023. The Binance.US team urged users to withdraw their cash assets from the platform. The reason for such measures was the lawsuit of the US Securities and Exchange Commission against, the global exchange Binance.com, its US arm, and the companies’ co-founder Changpeng Zhao for non-compliance with securities laws in the States.

The SEC has taken to using extremely aggressive and intimidating tactics in its pursuit of an ideological campaign against the American digital asset industry. https://t.co/AZwoBOgsqS and our business partners have not been spared in the use of these tactics, which has created… pic.twitter.com/rlIe6swIoY — Binance.US 🇺🇸 (@BinanceUS) June 9, 2023

Binance.US’s statement. The exchange’s team called these moves proactive, noting that only operations with cryptocurrencies will be supported for a while. Thus, the company assured that trading, staking, deposits, and withdrawals of cryptocurrencies “remain fully operational.”

Representatives of Binance.US said that it maintains reserves at a ratio of 1:1 for all customer assets. Any downtime in withdrawal processing could be a result of increased volumes and bank closures over the weekend, they clarified.

“While we remain open to a productive compromise that enables a thriving digital asset marketplace in America, Binance.US will continue to vigorously defend ourselves, our customers, and industry against the meritless attacks of the SEC,” the platform’s representatives said.

On June 6, the SEC demanded that Binance.US customers’ assets be frozen to ensure their protection and eventual recovery within proceedings of the lawsuit filed earlier. The regulator also provided data from the platform’s financial report showing that it earned $410 million since it opened in 2019.

It later became known about the testimony of former Binance.US executives Catherine Coley and Brian Brooks, who were part of the SEC lawsuit. Coley testified about Binance’s significant influence over its US subsidiary, and Brooks stated that Binance.US “was, in fact, heavily dependent on Zhao.”