BUSD trading temporarily halted by Binance.US after CFTC allegations

• Binance has suspended BUSD stablecoin pairs via One Common Billing System.
• The move was a result of allegations about Binance helping customers evade KYC policies.

Binance’s [BNB] United States-based subsidiary, Binance.US, temporarily suspended Binance USD [BUSD] stablecoin pairs via One Common Billing System (OCBS) as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) investigated the exchange for alleged violations.

The affected services include BUSD crypto deposits and withdrawals, as well as buying, selling, and converting crypto options.

Binance.US’s statement read:

“OCBS and stable coin pairs for BUSD are suspended temporarily. We are working to restore all services as soon as possible.”

The decision came shortly after the exchange halted certain U.S. dollar deposit services. Additionally, it temporarily halted Apple Pay and Google Pay deposits due to the company:

“Transitioning to new banking and payment service providers over the next several weeks.”

Earlier, Binance.US also halted debit card deposits for up to 5% of its customers, but stated that it was working to restore all services as soon as possible.

Binance helped customers evade compliance controls, alleges CFTC

The latest announcement comes as Binance.US’ global affiliate, Binance, is being investigated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). On 27 March, the CFTC sued Binance and CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao for alleged trading violations, claiming that the exchange failed to meet compliance obligations by failing to register with the regulator.

The regulator claimed that the exchange secretly instructed customers on how to avoid compliance control. The CFTC also claimed that the company and its CEO:

“Instructed its employees and customers to circumvent compliance controls in order to maximize corporate profits.”

CZ responded to the allegations on a blog, claiming that the complaint contained an “incomplete recitation of facts” and that the exchange did not agree with the characterization of many of the issues raised in the complaint.

Binance was founded in September 2019; Binance.US is a separate entity from Binance. For the uninitiated, the latter is not available to users in the U.S. due to local regulations.