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Binance prompted European Paysafe users to convert their EUR balances to Tether’s dollar-pegged stablecoin USDT before October 31.
The crypto exchange indicated in a statement that this decision was made after its banking partner Paysafe “unilaterally decided to stop processing EUR deposits for Binance users.”
On September 25, Paysafe had already signaled its intentions by suspending euro deposits. Until then, the firm was managing Binance’s European users’ fiat deposits and withdrawals.
According to the crypto exchange, this situation will be temporary. "Binance is changing its fiat partner for EUR services,” a spokesperson for Binance told Decrypt.
“This process will take several days to complete and we will provide regular updates to affected users to let them know when full functionality can be restored,” the spokesperson added. “We look forward to having our new fiat partner up and running as soon as possible."
These services included bank transfers routed through the European Union's Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) system.
“The sudden and inexplicable decision by Paysafe will cause a brief interruption to the following services,” Binance indicated in its public statement. “We apologize for any inconvenience.”
Since this Thursday morning at 4 a.m. UTC, Paysafe users can longer trade EUR spot trading pairs, and open orders have been canceled.
Another Binance feature, called Binance Convert–which is similar to a token exchange–is now also encountering limitations on EUR transactions.
However, users will still be able to withdraw their Euros from Binance to their banking account.
Decrypt has reached out to Paysafe for comment.
Binance on the back foot
Binance's recent communication comes in the wake of disruptions caused by Paysafe affecting operations across multiple countries.
On Monday, Binance France's spokesperson confirmed to the French news outlet BFM that it is encouraging users to shift their traditional money holdings into cryptocurrencies, without any added fees.
From the start of this week, Binance France users have been unable to execute euro deposits or withdrawals using bank transfers.
Earlier this year in May, Paysafe withdrew its support for transactions in British pounds. This decision came in the wake of concerns voiced by financial regulators in the United Kingdom.
Moreover, in June, the company announced its departure from the Netherlands after its attempts to secure a virtual asset service provider (VASP) license failed.
This decision was followed the same month by directives from Belgian officials, ordering the crypto exchange to suspend its operations in their jurisdiction after accusing it of not complying with local rules.
However, Binance has since resumed new user registrations for Belgian residents.
The challenges faced by Binance aren't restricted solely to Europe. Last June, Binance Australia also stopped Australian dollar (AUD) deposits and withdrawals conducted via bank transfer.
Furthermore, on September 27, Binance withdrew from Russia after selling its business to a new crypto exchange called CommEX. This decision came amid concerns about Binance allegedly not following financial sanctions against Russia.
Meanwhile, Binance still faces legal challenges in the U.S. On June 5, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Binance and its associated entities, alleging the platform sold unregistered securities and conducted unauthorized operations in the U.S.
This legal action by the SEC follows a previous lawsuit from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) just three months prior, where Binance was accused of not registering with the agency and violating several of its regulations.