Binance halts deposits and withdrawals for customers in the UK

Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, is halting its pound deposits and withdrawals, a company spokesperson said on Tuesday. This news comes a month after the crypto exchange halted dollar transfers.

The spokesperson noted that, Paysafe, the exchange's partner for sterling transfers, would halt its services from May 22, impacting all Binance customers.

Sterling transfers for new users were stopped on Monday, the exchange noted.

"Binance will ensure that affected users are still able to access their GBP balances," the spokesperson said. They added, "the change affects less than 1 percent of Binance users."

They also noted that the company is working to find an "alternative solution" for sterling transfers.

The crypto exchange suspended all dollar bank transfers last month amid a growing crackdown on crypto by U.S. authorities.

Reuters reported that the Justice Department is investigating Binance for suspected money laundering and sanctions violations. A top Binance executive told The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg last month that Binance expected to pay penalties to resolve U.S. investigations into the company.

A spokesperson for Skrill, the Paysafe unit that works with Binance, told crypto news website Decrypt that "the UK regulatory environment in relation to crypto is too challenging to offer this service at this time and so this is a prudent decision on our part taken in an abundance of caution."

Britain's financial watchdog exclaimed last year that it lacked powers to stop Binance from accessing the Faster Payments network via Paysafe.

Furthermore, the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) warned consumers in June 2021 that Binance did not hold "any form" of permission to offer services regulated by Britain.

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