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The fallout from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) civil lawsuit filing against Binance, the most popular crypto exchange by volume, continues this week, with Binance.US, the American arm of the global exchange, announcing a temporary halt to all fiat withdrawals late Thursday, June 8.
The exchange attributed 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 its Twitter account yesterday, “in an effort to protect our customers and platform, today we are suspending USD deposits and notifying 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 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
Switching to an all-crypto model “for a time”
This has led to Binance.US transitioning, at least for the time being, to an all-crypto model. The exchange, which is managed by BAM Trading, has reassured its users that it maintains one-to-one reserves for all customers and that all operations are currently functioning as usual despite the impending changes.
“Any downtime in processing withdrawals may be the result of elevated volumes and weekend bank closures,” Binance.US’s statement read. “Moreover, trading, staking, deposits, and withdrawals in crypto remain fully operational.”
In addition to the suspension of USD deposits and withdrawals, Binance.US has also announced that all USD trading pairs (for example, BTC-USD) will be suspended in the coming week. Furthermore, the platform announced that any USD balances held after June 15 may be converted into stablecoins that can be withdrawn on-chain.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 customers and the safety of their assets.
The SEC has shown in bringing this case, and countless others, that its true interest lies in political grandstanding and land… https://t.co/rt2acDzzqD
— Binance.US 🇺🇸 (@BinanceUS) June 6, 2023
The SEC lawsuit, which Binance.US has described as containing “unjustified civil claims,” has caused the platform to take a combative tone on social media with the regulatory agency, repeatedly claiming the SEC’s tactics and approach to industry regulation are both aggressive and misinformed.
Binance.US itself has had a notably turbulent history, with its former CEO, Catherine Coley, disappearing from public view and her successor, Brian Brooks, likewise resigning after a brief tenure. Brooks had previously provided testimony to the SEC that questioned the supposed independence of the exchange.
Editor’s note: This article was written by an nft now staff member in collaboration with OpenAI’s GPT-4.
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