Binance limits local withdrawals in Europe ahead of time
Binance has conducted an early closure of the accounts of a group of customers in SEPA – the common euro payment area. While previously the exchange announced that it would change the EUR deposit and withdrawal service provider via bank transfer in Europe after September 25.
“Euro trading through SEPA will continue through September 25 as originally. Until then, some users may be asked to provide additional information as part of the vetting process. periodically. This may result in their account being closed sooner than expected. We apologize for the inconvenience and it is important that we provide alternatives to our users first. closing SEPA service.”
The above decision was made after Binance lost its banking partner Paysafe and was denied permission to operate by the German authorities. In addition, within a month, Binance has continuously withdrawn from 4 other European countries, including the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Cyprus and Austria. All are affected by the context of tightening regulations.
However, the regulatory hurdles against Binance are not limited to Europe. The world’s largest exchange is still facing scrutiny from US regulators. Both the Asset Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are suing Binance, its subsidiaries, and CEO Changpeng Zhao.
In a related development, Checkout.com also announced it was severing its relationship with Binance, coinciding with the closure of Binane Connect.
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Despite the embargo, is Binance still covering for the Russian people?
According to the latest findings from the Wall Street Journal, Binance has continued to process up to 8 billion USD of transactions for at least 5 Russian banks that are on the Western blacklist. These include Tinkoff Bank and Rosbank.
” According to WSJ, the U.S. DOJ is investigating whether Binance may violate U.S. customer sanctions against Russia. Binance provides Russian customers with at least five sanctioned Russian banks for payments. Binance responds that it follows global rules and imposes sanctions…”
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) August 22, 2023
In addition, some volunteers known as Binance Angels reported on the Telegram channel that the exchange does not impose any trading restrictions on Russian customers.
The representative of the exchange immediately protested:
“Binance adheres to a rule of global sanctions against individuals, organizations, entities, and countries that have been blacklisted, refused to serve those actors, and blocked access to the platform. Therefore, the exchange does not have any relationship with Russian banks, as well as P2P trading organizations and cooperation with partners in the traditional financial system on the sanctions list.”
The above source somewhat contradicts the previous announcement that Binance issued. Last April, the exchange closed a series of user accounts linked to Russian authorities. At the same time, the service is restricted to users of Russian nationality, individuals and organizations residing or registered in the region, and possessing crypto assets over 10,000 euros or more. At the time, Reuters also accused Binance of providing user information to Russian authorities.
Since the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out, Russian clients’ crypto trading volume has spiked, as many look to alternative investment channels to protect their assets amid the ruble’s devaluation. serious. BTC and USDT prices in trading pairs with the Russian ruble even hit ATH peaks.
In a related development, the Justice Department is said to be opening an investigation into Binance for possible violations of the US embargo placed on Russia, according to insiders reported by Bloomberg.
Coverage for Russian users further distances Binance and global regulators. Over the past time, the exchange has continuously encountered difficulties in Europe, leading to its withdrawal from the German, UK, Netherlands, Cyprus and Austrian markets.
On the other side of the line, Changpeng Zhao’s exchange is also facing challenges in North America, culminating in lawsuits from the Asset Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). At the same time, the US Department of Justice is still considering impeaching Binance and its owner, for fear of causing harm to the entire market.
Under the legal whirlwind, many key figures of the exchange left their shirts, in addition to the times when Binance lost partners and cut off agreements.
So, after all, how is Binance’s BNB coin changing?
With the above, the 4th largest coin in the market with a market capitalization of $ 32 billion is at the lowest level of 2023 – around the area of 204 USD and the risk of losing less than 200 USD in a short time.
It all resonates with a loan on Venus by hacker BNB Bridge, which is putting more pressure on the coin’s price. According to the latest confirmation from co-founder He Yi, BNB Chain is working with Venus to carefully dismantle the loan, avoiding damage to the market.
The cryptocurrency market in the morning of August 23 also fluctuated quite negatively, Bitcoin dumped below $25,800.
