Binance.US suspends dollar deposits after SEC order to freeze assets

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - The world's biggest cryptocurrency trading platform Binance's US subsidiary announced Friday it has decided to suspend American dollar deposits.

The decision comes after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday filed an emergency action application seeking a temporary restraining order to freeze assets of Binance.US.

"The SEC has taken to using extremely aggressive and intimidating tactics in its pursuit of an ideological campaign against the American digital asset industry," Binance.US wrote on Twitter.

"We are taking these proactive steps as we–for a time–transition to a crypto-only exchange. To be clear, we maintain 1:1 reserves for all customer assets. Any downtime in processing withdrawals may be the result of elevated volumes and weekend bank closures," it added.

The company said it is notifying customers that its banking partners are preparing to pause US dollar withdrawal channels as early as next Tuesday, and urged customers to take appropriate action with their fiat money.

It noted that trading, staking, deposits and withdrawals in cryptocurrencies will remain fully operational.

The SEC on Monday filed 13 charges Monday against Binance entities and CEO Changpeng Zhao for violating several US securities laws, which included operating unregistered exchanges, broker-dealers and clearing agencies, misrepresenting trading controls and oversight on the Binance.US platform and unregistered offer and sale of securities.