Binance Suspends Payments From EU’s SEPA Network

In an email statement it sent to users on Tuesday, crypto exchange platform Binance said it will, with immediate effect, temporarily suspend euro bank deposits from one of Europe’s most important payments channels.

According to the email sent during the late hours of yesterday, Binance said that customers would, from 8 a.m universal coordinated time on Wednesday, be unable to make deposits using the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) schemes. According to the crypto exchange, the decision was temporary and a result of circumstances that were beyond the exchange’s control.

Although deposits through SEPA networks will be unavailable for now, Binance mentioned that withdrawals are unaffected by the temporary suspension. “Any deposits attempted via SEPA in the meantime will be returned within seven working days. SEPA withdrawals are unaffected by this suspension”, the crypto exchange said.

Founded in 2017 and domiciled in the Cayman Islands is the world’s largest crypto exchange platform by trading volume. It once had its headquarters in China but moved out as a result of concerns over regulatory crackdowns.

Binance accesses SEPA’s network through payments intermediaries. SEPA is a European Union project to unify euro payments across the region, giving people the power to send euros across over thirty European countries.

Binance has been faced with troubles arising from regulatory bodies in various countries. In April, the crypto exchange risked being fined for offering tokens connected to stocks in Germany. Last month, Japan’s regulator mentioned that Binance was operating in the country illegally. The crypto exchange also got banned in the UK. The UK watchdog – the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) declared that Binance could no longer conduct any regulated activity and that consumers should be wary of using the platform in any way.

The most recent of all these troubles is the criminal complaints that the crypto exchange received from Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission. The complaint was filed against the crypto exchange on claims that it was operating a digital asset business without a license. According to Thai’s SEC, the offense it is charging Binance holds a penalty of two to five years imprisonment, a fine of 200,000 to 500,000 baht (the equivalent of $6,200 to $15,500), and a further daily fine of up to 10,000 baht for every day that the contravention continues.