- Summary:
- The MoonPay partnership will come as a relief to Binance, as it fights off a combination of regulatory crackdown and liquidity speculation.
Binance.US, the U.S.-based arm of Binance, has teamed up with the digital currency payment service provider MoonPay to facilitate Tether purchases on its platform. Binance.US is now fully operational as a crypto-only exchange, and it has switched from US dollars to USDT (Tether) as its base unit.
Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, is experiencing significant pushback from US regulators after lawsuits were filed against the exchange and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Binance’s woes and what the MoonPay deal entails
Customers of Binance.US have been unable to make dollar deposits or withdrawals as various banks cut ties with the crypto exchange over regulatory concerns. However, MoonPay, a payment startup, has emerged as a viable replacement fiat on/off ramp partner for the exchange.
MoonPay is a US-based financial services company that operates in over 160 countries and conducts extensive Know Your Customer (KYC) checks on all of its clients. The deal states that MoonPay will provide “reliable USD payment solutions to Binance.US customers. Users in the US can use MoonPay to exchange their cryptocurrency for fiat currency and then deposit the funds into a US bank account. In addition, MoonPay’s new USD on-ramps will enable customers to buy USDT using a variety of payment methods, including debit and credit cards, Apple Pay and Google Wallet.
The minimum purchase amount for Moonpay is $30, and the purchasing fee is 3.49% at launch, although this is subject to change. On the other hand, withdrawals made via bank transfer are subject to a 2.25 % platform fee.
Nonetheless, the MoonPay deal does not mark the end of trouble for Binance, with talk rife that the exchange may have been liquidating its reserves. The SEC has proposed a measure to stop access to Binance. US cloud infrastructure by anyone affiliated with Binance Holdings, and the request is still pending approval by the federal government.