Binance Suspends Payments for Major European Payment Network
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Binance has suspended payments across a major EU cross-border payment network, citing events beyond its control.
Binance has announced that it will temporarily suspend euro deposits in the European Union’s Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) network. SEPA is one of Europe’s most significant payment systems, making it easy to send cross-border transfers in euros across member nations.
SEPA effectively makes cross-border transactions the same as domestic transfers and is active in 27 nations. Transfer fees and times using this system are comparable to that of domestic payments, increasing the convenience for businesses and individuals.
Binance, which is one of the largest in the world, sent an email to users on July 6, saying that reasons beyond its control resulted in the decision to suspend payments. Deposits will be returned within seven days, while withdrawals will not be affected.
This is yet another major step Binance is taking to assuage authorities who have begun cracking down on exchanges with force, especially since the start of the year. As one of the world’s most high-profile exchanges, Binance is among those that are receiving the most scrutiny.
It’s unclear how much of an impact this particular suspension will have on Binance, but the exchange could face sizable retraction along with the other actions it is facing. Binance will have to play along with regulators if it wishes to maintain its dominance over the market, but it will be interesting to see the compromises it will have to make.
Binance facing tough times
Exchanges all across the world are facing pushback from regulators following the recent market rally. This global coordinated effort to rein in the crypto market has exchanges worried about their business, but on the whole, it appears that they are willing to follow the rules to remain active.
But Binance is certainly one of the most prominent exchanges to be facing troubles, with multiple governments issuing statements on taking action against the exchange. The exchange has repeatedly assured users and regulators that it would make an effort to follow all compliance standards, but there is no doubt that it will face some restrictions going forward.
The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said that Binance lacked the license to carry out services in the country. The exchange responded by saying that it hadn’t yet acquired a U.K. business and would adhere to regulations. The Barclays bank has since halted fund transfers to the exchange.
Japan’s authorities state that Binance has been operating illegally in the country, while Germany says that it could be hit with fines for offering tokens linked to stocks. The Thailand SEC, meanwhile, has launched a full-blown criminal complaint against the exchange for operating without a license.
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