Binance to Stop Serving US Traders Following Announcement of US-Dedicated Platform

Major crypto exchange Binance announced today, June 14, that it has updated its terms of use, which notably includes a restriction of services to United States-based individual and corporate traders. The restriction follows yesterday’s news that the company is launching a separate, fully regulated fiat-to-crypto platform for the U.S. market.

Today’s announcement provides a timeline for the new terms to come into effect, specifying that:

“After 90 days, effective on 2019/09/12 [12th September 2019], users who are not in accordance with Binance’s Terms of Use will continue to have access to their wallets and funds, but will no longer be able to trade or deposit on Binance.com.”

While the use of a virtual private network could ostensibly allow U.S. users to circumvent the new restrictions, withdrawals for non-verified users remain capped at up to 2 bitcoin (BTC) per 24 hours— worth $16,482 to press time. Sums above this threshold would require users to provide evidence that they are complying with the platform’s Terms of Use.

In a tweet published yesterday, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) said of the new exchange’s evolving global structure:

“Some short term pains may be necessary for long term gains. And we always work hard to turn every short term pain into a long term gain.”

Earlier this month, it was reported that the decentralized exchange (DEX) developed by Binance will use geo-blocking to restrict website access to users in 29 countries, including the U.S.

As Cointelegraph has previously reported, CZ revealed in September 2018 that the company intends to launch five to ten fiat-to-crypto exchanges — two per continent — within one year, without specifying the exact locations.

The firm has to date launched fiat-crypto platforms in Uganda, Singapore and Jersey, with support for a limited range of cryptocurrencies.

As reported yesterday, Binance is establishing its U.S. platform in partnership with BAM Trading Services, which is approved by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

In June, Binance revealed that it would be issuing its own stablecoins pegged to different fiat currencies, but with the exception of the U.S. dollar.

In the wider crypto sector, the Huobi Group — operator of the flagship Huobi Global crypto exchange — launched a U.S.-based strategic partner trading platform last year, initially dubbed HBUS, but later rebranded to Huobi.com.