The American arm of the world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance, is working hard to stay afloat and source a payments provider willing to work with it. As its traditional banking partners pulled the plug following regulatory pressure, Binance.US has found an alternative fiat on/off ramp.
On August 22, Binance.US announced new channels to allow customers to fund their Tether (USDT) balance with dollars (USD) through partner services.
Binance and MoonPay
The firm stated that as it completes its transition to a crypto-only exchange, it has replaced USD with USDT as the new base asset for transactions.
In early June, Binance.US suspended USD deposits, citing issues with banking partners. The move followed what it described as “extremely aggressive and intimidating tactics” by the SEC, which sued the firm for a number of alleged misdemeanors and attempted to freeze its assets.
It has now partnered with MoonPay, which facilitates “reliable USD payment solutions to Binance.US customers,” it stated.
“To make it easier to fund your account with USDT, we’ve partnered with third-party payment providers like MoonPay to offer convenient new USD on-ramps that support USDT purchases with debit card, credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay.”
Read more: 7 Best Binance Alternatives in 2023
MoonPay has now been integrated into Binance.US mobile wallets allowing users to fund it with USDT. You can purchase the world’s largest stablecoin on MoonPay with USD, eliminating the involvement of third-party banks.
However, MoonPay does have some basic KYC requirements, such as providing name, date of birth, and billing address for the initial transaction. “On average, verification takes just 60 seconds to process,” said Binance.US.
The new feature on Binance.US has been called “Enhanced Buy & Sell Crypto.” The exchange still supports more than 150 cryptocurrencies, and you can also cash them out to USD via MoonPay.
Read more: 13 Best No KYC Crypto Exchanges in 2023
BNB Woes Deepen
MoonPay is a US-registered money service business active in more than 160 countries and is trusted by over 300 leading wallets, websites, and applications, according to the website. The firm claims to have 5 million users and supports more than 80 assets.
The news boosted Binance’s native token with a 5% gain over the past 12 hours or so. BNB slumped to its lowest level in over a year on August 22, dropping to $204.
However, it has since recovered to trade at $213 at the time of writing.
BNB Price in USD 1 day. Source: BeInCrypto
Nevertheless, Binance’s woes are not over yet. There has been a lot of speculation over reserve liquidation to buoy up the battered exchange token.
