Binance Halts Deposits and Withdrawals in the UK

Binance announced that it would suspend deposits and withdrawals through bank transfers and card payments in the UK after the exchange’s local banking partner, Paysafe, said it would stop providing its services to the exchange.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance is suspending withdrawals and deposits via bank transfers and card payments for its customers in the United Kingdom. Bloomberg reported the exchange was forced to suspend its services after its local banking partner, Paysafe, said it would stop supporting transactions in British Pounds.

The exchange said in an email to its customers it would no longer be able to process withdrawals and deposits in pounds starting May 22. Withdrawals and deposits are no longer available for new users and will be halted entirely for Binance’s existing users in May.

Binance informed its customers that the decision does not affect their accounts and that certain functionalities remain unaffected.

A Binance spokesperson told multiple media outlets:

In the meantime, all methods of depositing and withdrawing other fiat currencies, as well as buying and selling crypto on Binance.com, remain unaffected, including bank transfer using one of the other fiat currencies supported by Binance and buying and selling crypto directly via credit or debit card.

According to Bloomberg, Paysafe, a London-based online payments firm, said it would halt providing one of its products to Binance’s customers in the UK, citing local regulatory concerns over cryptoassets. Paysafe said in a statement:

We have concluded that the UK regulatory environment in relation to crypto is too challenging to offer this service at this time, and so this is a prudent decision on our part, taken in an abundance of caution.

UK Financial Institutions Restrict Crypto

Multiple financial institutions in the UK have recently come down hard on customers’ ability to buy crypto despite the country’s ambitions of becoming a global crypto hub. Last week, HSBC bank and the Nationwide Building Society introduced harsher restrictions on customer use of credit cards to buy cryptocurrencies.

Natwest also announced that it would limit customers’ daily crypto purchases. The bank said it would prevent its customers from sending more than £1,000 daily to a crypto exchange or more than £5,000 over any month. Natwest said its reasoning for limiting daily spending is to protect its customers against crypto scams and to “help protect customers losing life-changing sums of money.”

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.