by After having its banking ties slashed, crypto exchange Binance.
US has revived its United States dollar on-ramp through a new partnership with MoonPay.
Two months after becoming a crypto-only platform, Binance.
US has announced a new partnership with crypto payments firm
MoonPay to allow users to buy the U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin Tether USDT
$1.00
to use on its platform.
The crypto exchange announced on Aug. 22 that USDT was being adopted as the
new “base asset” for all transactions, and its partnership with MoonPay
allows a path for users to transact in USD.
The new partnership comes in the wake of Binance.US suffering a breakdown
with its banking partners, which saw fiat deposits on the exchange halted as of June 9.
At the time, it cited “aggressive and intimidating” tactics from the Securities and
Exchange Commission — which sued the exchange and its affiliates
four days prior — as the reason for the disruption.
Binance.US customers looking to fund their accounts can now exchange dollars for USDT,
which can in turn be used to purchase other cryptocurrencies on the platform, according to the statement.
While direct bank deposits remain disabled on Binance.US, the partnership offers
users an on-ramp that supports purchases through debit and credit cards
along with Apple and Google Pay.
On June 23, the exchange experienced a series of issues with USD-denominated
withdrawals but managed to temporarily recover the functionality. At the time,
it warned that the service would be discontinued in the near future.
Prior to Binance.US and its affiliates being hit by a lawsuit from the SEC,
the exchange supported the purchase and sale of popular cryptocurrencies
through direct USD deposits and withdrawals.
In March, a number of crypto exchanges and service providers lost their banking
partners amid a wider banking crisis that saw a number of crypto-friendly
banks — Silicon Valley Investment Bank, Silvergate and Signature Bank
— all collapse within the span of a few weeks.
