Binance Expands Fiat Gateway to Support 15 New National Currencies

Major cryptocurrency exchange Binance has added support for deposits in 15 additional fiat currencies to its platform.

According to a July 7 announcement, Binance added support for the United Arab Emirates dirham, Australian dollar, Canadian dollar, Swiss franc, Czech koruna, euro, British pound, Hong Kong dollar, Danish krone, Hungarian forint, Mexican peso, Norwegian krone, New Zealand dollar, Polish złoty and Swedish krona.

Binance added the new currencies through a partnership with crypto asset and fiat money institutional custodian Etana Custody.

Binance CFO Wei Zhou told Cointelegraph that users can transfer the funds via SWIFT wire transfer, adding, "After linking Binance accounts to Etana accounts, Binance users can wire funds directly from their bank accounts to Etana, and then have their Etana fiat balance credited to the corresponding Binance accounts instantly and free of charge by initiating a fiat deposit request on Binance."

A more accessible fiat onramp for Binance users

Etana’s onboarding process includes Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering checks compliant with the Bank Secrecy Act. Binance CEO and co-founder Changpeng Zhao said that he believes this partnership will make crypto more accessible:

“The integration helps make access to digital assets more effortless for people across the European, Asian, North American and Oceanian markets.”

Etana waived custody and deposit fees for sums of $1,000 or higher until Aug. 5, but a $35 bank wire transfer fee still applies. The maximum deposit and withdrawal limit depends on the level of the linked Binance account, while the minimum deposit and withdrawal limit is $150.

This is the latest initiative by Binance to expand the exchange’s influence in new markets. Zhao made his expansionist ambitions clear when at the beginning of last month he said that cryptocurrency exchanges need a global mindset.

Furthermore, in mid-June the company also announced that it will be expanding to the United Kingdom with a regulated crypto trading platform for both institutional and retail investors.