CZ Acknowledges Bad User Experience as Binance Suspends US Dollar Transfers

The news follows US banking partner Signature Bank’s decision in January to only handle user transactions worth over $100,000.

article-image

Source: Shutterstock / Primakov, modified by Blockworks

share

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance is suspending US dollar transfers from Wednesday, but hasn’t given a reason for doing so.

“We are temporarily suspending USD bank transfers as of February 8th,” a spokesperson told Blockworks on Tuesday, adding that the exchange is upgrading its services. “Affected customers are being notified directly.”

Binance is working to restart services as soon as possible, but the spokesperson added, “only 0.01% of our monthly active users leverage USD bank transfers.” A current count of monthly active users was unavailable.

Meanwhile, all other methods of buying and selling crypto remain unaffected, the spokesperson said. This includes bank transfers using other fiat currencies supported by Binance (including euros), buying and selling crypto via credit and debit cards, Google Pay and Apple Pay and via Binance P2P marketplace.

Binance’s US arm said in a tweet that it’s not affected by the suspension, suggesting that only non-US customers who deposit or withdraw US dollars will be impacted.

The move comes after Binance said in January that its US banking partner Signature Bank would no longer handle SWIFT transactions below $100,000 from Feb. 1. The lender’s move stemmed from wanting to decrease exposure to digital asset markets. 

A Binance spokesperson said at the time that the exchange was working to find an alternative solution, and that less than 0.1% of its average monthly users were being serviced by the bank.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao acknowledge in a tweet that the move reflected “bad user experience” and hinted that some banks are moving away from supporting cryptocurrencies.

Loading Tweet..

Binance saw a large spike in outflows after the announcement, with millions of dollar-pegged stablecoins including tether and USDC leaving to competitor platforms, CNBC reported, citing data from Arkham Intelligence. 

Still, the amount of US dollar outflows represented just a tiny fraction for a company with $42.2 billion worth of cryptoassets, the report said.

Binance’s native token BNB didn’t appear to be impacted by the news, and last traded 0.7% higher late Monday.


Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.

Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

recent research

Research Report Templates.png

Research

An overview of the Base Ecosystem, with a focus on market leaders.

article-image

Although bitcoin hitting $120k by year’s end is looking unlikely

article-image

About 270 million HYPE has been claimed, valued around $7.6 billion

article-image

Stanford professors David Mazières and Dan Boneh will lead the lab alongside a cohort of graduate student researchers

article-image

With more companies holding BTC, bitcoin yielding strategies could become “a new corporate finance norm,” CoinShares posed

article-image

The proposal comes after Polygon governance considered a controversial use of bridged liquidity for yield

article-image

Can the community balance its decentralized ethos with the need for inclusivity and constructive debate?