Suspends Financial News

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance Australia has informed users it has suspended Australian dollar services as its local payment services provider has seemingly stopped support for the exchange.

Belgian cryptocurrency trading platform Bit4You has suspended all operations, including withdrawals, amid an insolvency investigation of one of its key partners.

In a surprising turn of events, Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by daily trading volume, has temporarily suspended all online spot trading on its platform.

Kraken will suspend automated clearinghouse (ACH) deposits and withdrawals beginning March 27 due to the recent closure of its banking partner Silvergate Bank. 

In an email to customers, Binance says it will suspend sterling deposits and withdrawals via card and Faster Payments from 22 May. The exchange says the move has been forced by Paysafe subsidiary Skrill's decision to stop offering fiat services. Less than one per cent of Binance customers are affected and those that are can still access their GBP balances. The sterling news comes shortly after Binance had to suspend all dollar bank transfers and amidst growing regulatory scrutiny of the exchange in the wake of the FTX collapse. Th US Justice Department is investigating the firm over suspected money laundering and sanctions violations while the SEC is eying its BUSD stablecoin. Binance says it is working to find an alternative to Paysafe but a partner could be hard to come by. In 2021, the exchange lost access to Faster Payments after the FCA ordered it to stop regulated activities in the UK. The following year, it regained access via Paysafe but even then the FCA raised concerns about the move while conceding that is had "limited powers" to object. Now, Skrill says it has "concluded that the UK regulatory environment in relation to crypto is too challenging to offer this service at this time".

Deferred bonuses at Credit Suisse have been suspended by the Swiss government in the wake of the bank’s shotgun takeover by rival UBS.

The exchange says the move has been forced by Paysafe subsidiary Skrill's decision to stop offering fiat services.Less than one per cent of Binance customers are affected and those that are can still access their GBP balances.The sterling news comes shortly after Binance had to suspend all dollar bank transfers and amidst growing regulatory scrutiny of the exchange in the wake of the FTX collapse. Th US Justice Department is investigating the firm over suspected money laundering and sanctions violations while the SEC is eying its BUSD stablecoin.Binance says it is working to find an alternative to Paysafe but a partner could be hard to come by.

According to a March 13 tweet by Okcoin CEO Hong Fang, the U.S. affiliate of cryptocurrency exchange OKX had no exposure to defunct U.S. tech bank Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). However, Fong stated that Okcoin’s U.S. dollar wire and ACH deposits have been “immediately paused” due to the regulatory intervention in Signature Bank, Okcoin’s primary partner for customer transactions in dollars. 

Cryptocurrency financial services company Blockchain.com will suspend operations of its asset management subsidiary, according to a Bloomberg report published March 9. The service had existed less than a year and appears to be the latest casualty of the crypto winter.

Silvergate Capital Corp said on Friday it made a «risk-based decision» to discontinue the Silvergate Exchange Network, its crypto payments network, two days after the digital asset-focused bank raised doubts about its viability. "Effective immediately Silvergate Bank has made a risk-based decision to discontinue the Silvergate Exchange Network (SEN). All other deposit-related services remain operational," Silvergate said in a statement posted on its website. The Silvergate Exchange Network, one of the bank's most popular offerings, enabled round-the-clock transfers between investors and crypto exchanges, unlike traditional bank wires, which can often take days to settle. Silvergate shares on Friday slumped more than 2% in after-hours trading, after closing up 0.9% at $5.77 in regular trade. The shares on Thursday had fallen to a record low, ending the day down more than 97% from their all-time high in November 2021.

Bybit, a Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange, has announced that it is temporarily suspending United States dollar (USD) deposits via bank transfers in response to «service outages from a partner.» According to a blog post from March 4, USD deposits via wire transfer are no longer available, but users can still make USD deposits through the Advcash Wallet or with a credit card. Withdrawals through the Advcash Wallet are scheduled to be available soon, according to the exchange.

The roll out begins with the release of virtual cards for online shopping, with a physical plastic card planned for launch in April.“Bybit users will be able to access and manage their funds faster, more securely, and more conveniently,” says Ben Zhou, co-founder and CEO of Bybit.

[content][quote]Big Story[/quote][title]Web3 Platform Few and Far Raises $10.5 Million in Funding Round[/title][body]British Virgin Islands-based digital Collectibles web3 platform Few and Far on Friday announced that it has raised $10.5 million in a funding round led by Pantera Capital, a blockchain investment firm. The funding round also included other prominent investors such as Cypher Capital, Huobi Ventures, Hypersphere, Metaweb, Mantis Partners, and K5 Global. According to the company, the new funds will be used to expand the platform's capabilities, enhance user experience, and increase the number of web3 developers. IP owners are also expected to benefit from the platform, which provides an all-inclusive suite of developer tools to carry out everything related to next-generation digital collectibles. Details here.[/body][/content]

Ukraine temporarily suspended the use of its national currency, the hryvnia, via banking cards for fiat deposits and withdrawals on crypto exchanges. While the move immediately impacted how investors move funds to and from exchanges, Binance reminded users about how peer-to-peer (P2P) services come in handy when trading cryptocurrencies.

Trading in BUSD will be suspended on March 13 on Coinbase.com, Coinbase Pro, Coinbase Exchange, and Coinbase Prime.

SÃO PAULO—Brazil, the world’s largest beef exporter, halted shipments of meat to China after confirming a case of mad-cow disease, raising concerns among farmers over a drawn-out beef ban from the country’s biggest trading partner.

California-based crypto bank Silvergate has suspended dividend payouts to preserve its “highly liquid balance sheet.”

Bitcoin mining firm Argo blockchain has suspended trading of its American depositary shares (ADS) on NASDAQ, according to a Dec. 27 press release. The company says that it needed to suspend trading because of an announcement that will come on Wednesday morning and because the London Stock Exchange is closed on Tuesday. Argo says that it expects shares to resume NASDAQ trading on Wednesday.

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Crypto exchange Binance closed a trader account on Dec. 9 after a user complained about the exchange's response for alleged funds theft. Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao said the firm does not want to service "unreasonable" clients.

Liquid Global, a Japan-based crypto exchange owned by now-bankrupt exchange FTX, has halted all trading after being “instructed” to do so by the law firm handling the bankruptcy.