Binance has taken the option to discontinue fiat currency withdrawals, leaving customers in the United Kingdom without seemingly any option. This of course would be of grave concern to anyone who has a substantial amount of money in their Binance account. Presumably, the safest thing to do at the time of the trader’s choice will be to transfer the money either to GBP or a stablecoin on the exchange platform but this of course does not answer the question in regards to how they will be able to one day receive their money. There is still the option of transferring it to a crypto wallet but depending on what and how much a person is trading this can come with considerable fees.
The suspension also had happened in June, stopping cash payouts via Faster Payouts while receiving notices from the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority about the exchange operating in the country without a license. In a Financial News note reported on Tuesday, it was confirmed that emails have been sent to affected customers informing them of the situation and that they have the intention of solving such issues in the very near future. Despite this aim, this is, without doubt, a concerning moment for the exchange site as they will be fearing an exodus of British clients.
Details as to the reason for the latest suspension of pounds sterling have not been published; however, customers were assured that Binance has been resolving the issue. Significant partnerships with payment technology companies in the U.K., such as Clear Junction have been lost, and earlier in July, Barclays as also Santander’s U.K. branch have announced its decision to cease support for card payments to the crypto exchange.
Binance previously had clarified about Barclays’ decision that the FCA was restricted to Binance Markets Limited and not its global crypto exchange operations. However, the company has been in a difficult situation with regulatory agencies in different jurisdictions, including being the target of Japan, Poland, and the Canadian province of Ontario.
During the company situation, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has pronounced that:
“compliance is a journey.”
Against Binance’s misfortunes, U.S. crypto exchanges like Gemini have reported they are playing the “long game” by embracing the demands imposed by regulatory agencies. Without the full details, it is impossible to really give a picture of if these regulations being imposed on Binance are fair and whether they are just the victim of higher forces not wanting crypto to succeed. This is though a big story for the crypto industry and one that we will definitely keep an eye on.
News like this is enough to make people continue to believe that any money held on an exchange is not safe. If you haven’t done so already it is worth putting your crypto in respective wallets as this is where they are most likely not to be subject to fraud and sudden legal changes.
