Binance.US Customers, Beware — You Only Have Until Tomorrow Before Embattled Company Halts Withdrawals

Q.ai — a Forbes Company
3 min readJun 12, 2023

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Key takeaways

  • Binance.US is pausing withdrawals from tomorrow as the SEC applied to the courts for its assets to be frozen
  • Retail trading platform Robin Hood has delisted three cryptocurrencies with SEC lawsuits against them
  • Cryptos have dropped in value across the board but have largely stabilized as of Monday

The crypto saga just keeps unfolding. The latest is that Binance.US is suspending trading tomorrow because its assets will be frozen, in another blow to the crypto exchange. It vehemently denies any wrongdoing. Thankfully, cryptos have stabilized since the initial shock news. Here’s the lowdown.

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Why is Binance.U.S. halting withdrawals?

A week ago, the SEC announced it was suing Binance and Binance CEO, Changpeng Zhao, for a host of fraudulent activities, including misleading customers about controls, Binance.US not really being independent of Binance and moving around billions of dollars of customer funds. Cryptos plunged as a result of the lawsuit.

Now Binance.US, the affiliated-but-independent-but-maybe-not partner to Binance, confirmed on Twitter last week that it would suspend withdrawals on the platform as early as June 13. The move comes ahead of the SEC court filing for Binance.US to have its assets frozen. The Twitter statement said the company would “continue to vigorously defend ourselves, our customers, and industry against the meritless attacks of the SEC”.

Online retail trading platform Robin Hood has also delisted some crypto tokens, Cardano, Polygon and Solana, in a bid to distance itself from their ongoing SEC lawsuits, which claims the cryptos are trading as securities.

How did the market react?

Customers have left the platform in droves, with Binance.US’ market depth tumbling by a massive 78% in the wake of the SEC lawsuit. It’s led many to speculate whether the company will have enough liquidity to keep going — or if we’re looking at another crypto exchange collapsing into a heap.

Crypto data analytics firm Nansen said over the last week, $112 million has left Binance. U.S. and a massive $2.5 billion has outflows from Binance as customers run for the hills. Zhao disputes the figures on Twitter.

Crypto prices have shown signs of stabilizing as of Monday. Bitcoin is currently trading at $25,840, having lost 1.92% in value over the last five days. BNB, Binance’s own coin, has lost 11.19% value in the same period but could fall further as the Binance drama develops.

The bottom line

Binance is really going through it right now. But it’s the biggest crypto company in the world, and crypto has no shortage of fans. There’s still a long road ahead before the company can clear its name — and Binance.US may not survive if it continues to hemorrhage customers.

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Q.ai — a Forbes Company

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