withdrawal

Binance to lose its GBP on-and-off ramp provider in 9 weeks

Binance has also had problems with SWIFT, its banking partner for USD transfers over the last few months.

Binance is scrambling to find a new service partner to process British Pound (GBP) transfers on its trading platform after its current partner, Skrill Limited announced it will soon cease providing services to the crypto exchange. 

Binance explained in a Mar. 13 email to “Binancians” that Skrill would stop processing GBP deposits and withdrawals via bank transfer with its “Faster Payments Service” and card in May. 22.

“We regret to inform you that our GBP fiat partner, Skrill Limited, has informed us that it will stop offering GBP fiat services, namely deposits and withdrawals via Faster Payments and card, to Binance users,” the statement read.

Binance’s email to users regarding GBP service suspension. Source: Twitter

The trading platform added that they are “working hard to find an alternative provider” to provide GBP on and off-ramp services to users as soon as possible.

It has about nine weeks to find an alternative before Skrill terminates its services.

Binance however confirmed that the change would not impact Binance Accounts or any Binance.com products or services.

Steps to deposit GBP on Binance. Source: Binance.

This isn’t the only service provider dilemma that Binance has dealt with of late either.

Binance temporarily suspended USD bank transfers on Feb. 8 but did not provide an explanation as to why, other than that it would work to restart the feature as soon as possible. At the time, the halt did not apply to the U.S.-based independent entity, Binance.US.

On Jan. 21, Binance also announced that its primary banking partner, SWIFT would ban U.S. Dollar transfers below $100,000 on the trading platform. This service ceased on Feb. 1.

Related: Binance banking problems highlight a divide between crypto firms and banks

Binance then announced on Jan. 23 that Binance users of 143 countries would no longer have access to the SWIFT USD bank deposit and withdrawal channel at all.

The United States, United Kingdom, Australia, France and Germany were some of the few countries that made the cut.

Cointelegraph reached out to Binance and Paysafe, the parent company of Skrill, but did not receive an immediate response.

Binance to lose its British pound on- and off-ramp provider in 9 weeks

Binance has also had problems with its banking partner for United States dollar transfers over the last few months.

Binance is scrambling to find a new service partner to process British pound transfers on its trading platform after its current partner, Skrill Limited, announced it would soon cease providing services to the crypto exchange. 

Binance explained in a March 13 email to “Binancians” that Skrill would stop processing pound deposits and withdrawals via bank transfer with its “Faster Payments Service” and card on May 22.

“We regret to inform you that our GBP fiat partner, Skrill Limited, has informed us that it will stop offering GBP fiat services, namely deposits and withdrawals via Faster Payments and card, to Binance users,” the statement read.

Binance’s email to users regarding GBP service suspension. Source: Twitter

The trading platform added that they are “working hard to find an alternative provider” to provide Britis pound on- and off-ramp services to users as soon as possible.

It has about nine weeks to find an alternative before Skrill terminates its services.

Binance however confirmed that the change would not impact Binance Accounts or any Binance.com products or services.

A Binance spokesperson told Cointelegraph that pound transfers were suspended on March 13 for new users and that users will still be able to access their pound balances in the meantime:

“This change affects less than 1% of Binance users. However, we know that these services are valued by our users and our team is working hard to find an alternative solution for them.”

“In the meantime, all methods of depositing and withdrawing other fiat currencies as well as buying and selling crypto on Binance.com remain unaffected, including bank transfer using one of the other fiat currencies supported by Binance, and buying and selling crypto directly via credit or debit card,” the spokesperson added.

Steps to deposit GBP on Binance. Source: Binance.

This isn’t the only service provider dilemma that Binance has dealt with of late either.

Binance temporarily suspended USD bank transfers on Feb. 8 but did not provide an explanation as to why saying just that it would work to restart the feature as soon as possible. At the time, the halt did not apply to the U.S.-based independent entity, Binance.US.

On Jan. 21, Binance also announced that its primary banking partner — reportedly now-shuttered Signature Bank — would ban U.S. dollar transfers below $100,000 on the trading platform. This service ceased on Feb. 1.

Related: Binance banking problems highlight a divide between crypto firms and banks

Binance then announced on Jan. 23 that Binance users from 143 countries would no longer have access to the SWIFT U.S. dollar bank deposit and withdrawal channel at all.

The United States, United Kingdom, Australia, France and Germany were some of the few countries that made the cut.

Cointelegraph reached out to Paysafe, the parent company of Skrill, but did not receive an immediate response.

Fear of ‘angry people’ drove Bankman-Fried to open withdrawals for Bahamians

The former FTX CEO has explained why the exchange only reopened withdrawals for Bahamian citizens shortly before filing for bankruptcy.

FTX’s former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has divulged what really went on in the days before it filed for bankruptcy when the exchange selectively reopened withdrawals — only for Bahamian users. 

In a telephone interview with crypto blogger Tiffany Fong, dated Nov. 16, Bankman-Fried claims to have made the decision to reopen withdrawals to Bahamian citizens as he did not want himself, nor the exchange, to be in a country “with a lot of angry people in it.”

“The reason I did it was it was critical to the exchange being able to have a future because that’s where I am right now, and you do not want to be in a country with a lot of angry people in it and you do not want your company to be incorporated in a country with a lot of angry people in it,” he said.

Bankman-Fried claims he gave Bahamian securities regulators a “one-day heads up” that FTX was going to do it, but said the regulator neither responded with a “yes or no,” before he ultimately decided to go ahead with allowing withdrawals.

“So it was realistically speaking, it’s shitty, but […] the pathway for FTX involved Bahamians not being pissed at it.”

The now-defunct crypto exchange initially halted all withdrawals on Nov. 8 as a result of liquidity issues.

On Nov. 10, only a day before it filed for bankruptcy, the exchange noted it had begun to facilitate withdrawals of Bahamian funds. At the time, it claimed that it was in compliance with the demands of the country’s regulators — leading to millions of dollars worth of funds extracted from the exchange.

However, the Securities Commission of The Bahamas (SCB) threw a wrench into FTX’s narrative, stating on Nov. 12 that it had neither instructed nor authorized FTX to prioritize withdrawals of Bahamian clients.

They also warned that any withdrawal of funds could be clawed back as part of the firm’s liquidation proceedings.

Cointelegraph contacted the SCB for confirmation on if it had received communication from FTX prior to the exchange’s withdrawals reopening, and what its response was at the time. The SCB did not immediately respond.

In his most recent interview with Fong, Bankman-Fried denied the move was to facilitate withdrawals by people within FTX after Fong suggested that this is how it was being seen.

“Oh it wasn’t insider withdrawals, this was trying to create a regulatory pathway forward for the exchange.”

SBF was hot on FTX hacker’s trail

The former FTX CEO also noted during the Nov. 16 interview that he was close to finding out the identity of the FTX hacker, who is understood to have stolen over $450 million worth of assets soon after the exchange filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 11.

“I don’t know exactly who because they shut off all access to the systems when I was halfway through exploring it. I’ve narrowed it down to eight people. I don’t know which one it was but I have a pretty decent sense.”

Bankman-Fried said he believes it was “either an ex-employee or somewhere someone installed malware on an ex-employee’s computer.”

Related: ‘I never opened the code for FTX’: SBF has long, candid talk with vlogger

In a separate, more recent interview with Sam Bankman-Fried by Axios on Nov. 29, the former FTX CEO has revealed he only has around $100,000 left in his bank account as of today.

This is despite Bankman-Fried being worth an estimated $26 billion at his peak.

Bankman-Fried claims that he had “basically everything” tied up in the now-bankrupt company.

“I mean, I have no idea. I don’t know. I had $100,000 in my bank account last I checked,” he said.

Fear of ‘angry people’ drove Bankman-Fried to open withdrawals for Bahamians

The former FTX CEO has explained why the exchange only reopened withdrawals for Bahamian citizens shortly before filing for bankruptcy.

FTX’s former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has divulged what really went on in the days before it filed for bankruptcy when the exchange selectively reopened withdrawals — only for Bahamian users. 

In a telephone interview with crypto blogger Tiffany Fong, dated Nov. 16, Bankman-Fried claims to have made the decision to reopen withdrawals to Bahamian citizens, as he did not want himself nor the exchange to be in a country “with a lot of angry people in it.”

“The reason I did it was it was critical to the exchange being able to have a future because that’s where I am right now, and you do not want to be in a country with a lot of angry people in it and you do not want your company to be incorporated in a country with a lot of angry people in it,” he said.

Bankman-Fried claims he gave Bahamian securities regulators a “one-day heads up” that FTX was going to do it, but said the regulator neither responded with a “yes or no,” before he ultimately decided to go ahead with allowing withdrawals:

“So it was realistically speaking, it’s shitty, but […] the pathway for FTX involved Bahamians not being pissed at it.”

The now-defunct crypto exchange initially halted all withdrawals on Nov. 8 as a result of liquidity issues.

On Nov. 10, only a day before it filed for bankruptcy, the exchange noted it had begun to facilitate withdrawals of Bahamian funds. At the time, it claimed that it was in compliance with the demands of the country’s regulators — leading to millions of dollars worth of funds extracted from the exchange.

However, the Securities Commission of The Bahamas (SCB) threw a wrench into FTX’s narrative, stating on Nov. 12 that it had neither instructed nor authorized FTX to prioritize withdrawals of Bahamian clients.

They also warned that any withdrawal of funds could be clawed back as part of the firm’s liquidation proceedings.

Cointelegraph contacted the SCB for confirmation on if it had received communication from FTX prior to the exchange’s withdrawals reopening, and what its response was at the time. The SCB did not immediately respond.

In his most recent interview with Fong, Bankman-Fried denied the move was to facilitate withdrawals by people within FTX after Fong suggested that this is how it was being seen.

“Oh it wasn’t insider withdrawals, this was trying to create a regulatory pathway forward for the exchange.”

SBF was hot on FTX hacker’s trail

The former FTX CEO also noted during the Nov. 16 interview that he was close to finding out the identity of the FTX hacker, who is understood to have stolen over $450 million worth of assets soon after the exchange filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 11.

“I don’t know exactly who because they shut off all access to the systems when I was halfway through exploring it. I’ve narrowed it down to eight people. I don’t know which one it was but I have a pretty decent sense.”

Bankman-Fried said he believes it was “either an ex-employee or somewhere someone installed malware on an ex-employee’s computer.”

Related: ‘I never opened the code for FTX’: SBF has long, candid talk with vlogger

In a separate, more recent interview with Sam Bankman-Fried by Axios on Nov. 29, the former FTX CEO has revealed he only has around $100,000 left in his bank account as of today.

This is despite Bankman-Fried being worth an estimated $26 billion at his peak.

Bankman-Fried claims that he had “basically everything” tied up in the now-bankrupt company.

“I mean, I have no idea. I don’t know. I had $100,000 in my bank account last I checked,” he said.

Celsius had ‘insufficient’ accounting and operational controls, says examiner

The examiner revealed that Celsius’ digital assets in its customer’s Custody wallets account officially became underfunded on Jun. 11.

The independent examiner in crypto lender Celsius’ bankruptcy case has alleged that the company failed to set up “sufficient” accounting and operational controls in its handling of customer funds. 

In an interim report released on Nov. 19, examiner Shoba Pillay made a number of stark observations in her court-appointed investigation into the bankrupt cryptocurrency lending platform.

One of the main revelations in Pillay’s report was that Celsius’ “Custody” program was launched “without sufficient accounting and operational controls or technical infrastructure,” which allowed shortfalls in Custody wallets to be funded from its other holdings.

“[…] no effort was made to segregate or separately identify any assets associated with the Withhold accounts, which were commingled in the Main wallets.”

When it was launched on Apr. 15, Celsius’ Custody program allowed users to transfer, swap and use coins as loan collateral. It was introduced after the firm was ordered by the New Jersey security regulators to create a product that was distinguished from Celsius’ “Earn” product, which receives rewards.

This co-mingling of wallets means that there is now uncertainty on which assets belonged to the customer at the time of the bankruptcy filing, said Pillay, noting: 

“As a result, customers now face uncertainty regarding which assets, if any, belonged to them as of the bankruptcy filing.”

The interim report has also shed light on what ultimately forced the lending platform to halt withdrawals on Jun. 12. 

Pillay said the breaking point came around on Jun. 11, when customers’ Custody wallets became underfunded. By Jun. 24, this fell a further 24% to $50.5 million in underfunding.

Celsius’ Surplus and Deficit of Digital Assets in Custody Wallets. Source: U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

The revelation comes as a filing with the New York-based bankruptcy court last week states that Celsius customers must file claims against Celsius by Jan. 3. 2023 in order to be eligible for distributions from the case.

However, customers who agree with Celsius’s scheduling of their claims do not need to submit proof of claim, according to a Nov. 20 Twitter post from Celsius.

Related: Celsius bankruptcy proceedings show complexities amid declining hope of recovery

Pillay said that Celsius’ Custody and Withdrawal programs were created on short notice following “intense regulatory pressure” from New Jersey’s Bureau of Securities, who started an investigation into whether Celsius’ “Earn” accounts constituted securities pursuant to U.S. securities laws in mid-2021.

Other accounting insufficiencies highlighted in the report include a revelation that Celsius, founded in 2017 by Alex Mashinsky and Daniel Leon, didn’t start tracking its balance sheet until after this confrontation with regulators in May. 2021, which it then used Google Sheets.

The collapse of the Terra ecosystem was one of the main factors that led to Celsius’ financial troubles in May. 2022, which saw its native coin, Luna Classic (LUNC), formerly LUNA, and the network’s algorithmic stablecoin TerraClassicUSD, USTC — previously TerraUSD (UST) — fall north of 98% in value.

Celsius also stated on Nov. 20 that its next court date is scheduled for Dec. 5, where they plan on advancing discussions around its Custody and Withhold accounts, among other matters.

Celsius had ‘insufficient’ accounting and operational controls, says examiner

The examiner revealed that Celsius’ digital assets in its customer’s Custody wallet account officially became underfunded on Jun. 11.

The independent examiner in crypto lender Celsius’ bankruptcy case has alleged that the company failed to set up “sufficient” accounting and operational controls in its handling of customer funds. 

In an interim report released on Nov. 19, examiner Shoba Pillay made a number of stark observations in her court-appointed investigation into the bankrupt cryptocurrency lending platform.

One of the main revelations in Pillay’s report was that Celsius’ Custody program was launched “without sufficient accounting and operational controls or technical infrastructure,” which allowed shortfalls in Custody wallets to be funded from its other holdings:

“[…] no effort was made to segregate or separately identify any assets associated with the Withhold accounts, which were commingled in the Main wallets.”

When it was launched on April 15, Celsius’ Custody program allowed users to transfer, swap and use coins as loan collateral. It was introduced after the firm was ordered by the New Jersey security regulators to create a product that was distinguished from Celsius’ Earn product, which receives rewards.

This co-mingling of wallets means that there is now uncertainty on which assets belonged to the customer at the time of the bankruptcy filing, said Pillay, noting: 

“As a result, customers now face uncertainty regarding which assets, if any, belonged to them as of the bankruptcy filing.”

The interim report has also shed light on what ultimately forced the lending platform to halt withdrawals on June 12. 

Pillay said the breaking point came around on June 11, when customers’ Custody wallets became underfunded. By Jun. 24, this fell a further 24% to $50.5 million in underfunding.

Celsius’ Surplus and Deficit of Digital Assets in Custody Wallets. Source: U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

The revelation comes as a filing with the New York-based bankruptcy court last week states that Celsius customers must file claims against Celsius by Jan. 3, 2023, in order to be eligible for distributions from the case.

However, customers who agree with Celsius’ scheduling of their claims do not need to submit proof of claim, according to a Nov. 20 Twitter post from Celsius.

Related: Celsius bankruptcy proceedings show complexities amid declining hope of recovery

Pillay said that Celsius’ Custody and Withdrawal programs were created on short notice following “intense regulatory pressure” from New Jersey’s Bureau of Securities, who started an investigation into whether Celsius’ “Earn” accounts constituted securities pursuant to United States securities laws in mid-2021.

Other accounting insufficiencies highlighted in the report include a revelation that Celsius, founded in 2017 by Alex Mashinsky and Daniel Leon, didn’t start tracking its balance sheet until after this confrontation with regulators in May. 2021, which it then used Google Sheets.

The collapse of the Terra ecosystem was one of the main factors that led to Celsius’ financial troubles in May. 2022, which saw its native coin, Luna Classic (LUNC), formerly LUNA, and the network’s algorithmic stablecoin Terra Classic USD, (USTC) — previously TerraUSD (UST) — fall north of 98% in value.

Celsius also stated on Nov. 20 that its next court date is scheduled for Dec. 5, where they plan on advancing discussions around its Custody and Withhold accounts, among other matters.

Crypto.com commits to proof-of-reserves after halting certain deposits and withdrawals

“We share the belief that it should be necessary for crypto platforms to publicly share proof of reserves,” the Crypto.com CEO said.

Kris Marszalek, CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com, has become the latest crypto company promising to publish “audited proof of reserves,” amid the downfall of rival exchange FTX. 

“We share the belief that it should be necessary for crypto platforms to publicly share proof of reserves,” said Marszalek, adding that his company “will be publishing our audited proof of reserves.”

The idea for crypto companies to publish their Proof of Reserves has gained traction in the wake of the FTX liquidity fiasco. Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao on Nov. 8 also pledged to start a Proof of Reserves audit system to give the public insights into the state of their reserves. 

The Crypto.com CEO’s comments come only hours after the exchange temporarily suspended withdrawals and deposits of USDC and USDT on the Solana network on Nov. 9.

In an email to users on Nov. 9, which had been circulating on Twitter, Crypto.com reportedly notified users of an “Immediate suspension of UDSC and USDT Deposits and withdrawals on Solana.”

In the email, the exchange assured its customers that they could still withdraw USD Coin (USDC) and Tether (USDT) at any time using other supported networks, such as Cronos and Ethereum, suggesting that other named networks had not been impacted by “recent industry events.”

Cointelegraph reached out to Crypto.com, who confirmed that the news circulating on social media about the suspension of withdrawals and deposits of USDC and USDT on the Solana network was indeed true. The exchange added that “any unreceived deposits of these two tokens over Solana will be refunded without a fee for the next two weeks.” However, they declined to provide more depth on the issue.

The exchange added that “any unreceived deposits of these two tokens over Solana will be refunded without a fee for the next two weeks.” However, they declined to provide more depth on the issue.

The past 96 hours have seen the crypto markets sent into a frenzy due to the collapse of the crypto exchange FTX.

On Nov. 6, CZ announced plans to liquidate the entirety of its position in FTX Token (FTT), the native token of competing exchange FTX, which led to a bank run and the plunging of the price of FTT.

A surprise turn of events occurred on Oct. 8 when the Binance CEO shared that his company had “signed a non-binding Letter of Intent, intending to fully acquire FTX.com and help cover the liquidity crunch.”

The CEO added that nothing was set in stone, as they were “assessing the situation in real time” and had the ability “to pull out from the deal at any time.”

Less than 48 hours later, the CEO announced they had pulled out of the deal entirely. 

Related: Solana erases its ‘Google rally’ gains, but a 50% Sol price recovery is still in play

The unfolding of these latest events has caused a cascading effect on the markets, particularly those with links to FTX and its related companies. 

On Nov. 9, Cointelegraph reported that Solana (SOL) was on track to log its worst daily performance on record, as SOL’s price dropped more than 40% due to its association with Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of crypto-focused hedge fund Alameda Research and cryptocurrency exchange FTX.

In the midst of the unfolding events, the co-founder of Solana Labs, Anatoly Yakovenko, shared a tweet suggesting that Solana had not been affected by the unfolding events. He stated, “Solana Labs, a US corp, didn’t have any assets on ftx.com, so we still have tons of runway, and luckily still a small team.”

At the time of publication, Solana was trading at around $14.97, down 30.29% over the last 24 hours. 

CoinFlex CEO says withdrawals unlikely to resume on Thursday

CoinFlex CEO Mark Lamb said more time was needed before the exchange can reopen its platform for user withdrawals.

Crypto exchange CoinFlex is “unlikely” to resume withdrawals on Thursday as it had originally hoped, according to its CEO Mark Lamb, as the company continues to search for buyers of its $47 million bad debt. 

Speaking to CNBC on Wednesday, Lamb said that more time was needed before it could reopen the platform for withdrawals, stating:

“We will need more time. And it’s unlikely that withdrawals will be re-enabled tomorrow.”

The crypto exchange had been banking on a $47 million token offering launched on Tuesday, which is known as Recovery Value USD (rvUSD). The token offering was created in an attempt to sell off its bad debt after one of its accounts went into negative equity.

In a statement on Tuesday, the company said it hoped withdrawals could restart as previously planned for Thursday, but admitted it would be subject to the token issuance being fully subscribed.

The company has not given any updates as to how many tokens have been subscribed to date, but Lamb noted on Wednesday that CoinFlex is in talks with several large funds to buy up the $47 million debt.

In a separate interview with MarketWatch, Lamb said it has been making “significant progress” on its token sale among distressed debt funds, existing customers and investors, adding that tens of millions of dollars in “soft commitments” have emerged.

The crypto investment platform halted user withdrawals on June 23, citing “extreme market conditions” and “uncertainty around a certain counterparty,” which was later revealed to be the result of a long-time customer of CoinFlex’s account that went into negative equity.

Days later, CoinFlex CEO Mark Lamb publicly pointed fingers at “Bitcoin Jesus” Roger Ver on Twitter, claiming that Ver owes the company $47 million USDC after allowing his account to go into negative equity.

Related: Roger Ver denies CoinFLEX CEO’s claims he owes firm $47M USDC

On the same day, Ver — without mentioning CoinFlex by name — denied rumors that he “defaulted on a debt to a counter-party,” and instead alleged the crypto firm owed him “a substantial sum of money.” Ver was an early investor in the exchange and had favorable borrowing conditions.

Lamb continued their Twitter spat stating the “debt is 100% related to his account,” adding that his company “categorically denies that we have any debts owing to him.”

CoinFlex’s recent woes are just another example of a growing number of crypto investment firms and trading platforms facing liquidity issues amid an ongoing crypto bear market.

Crypto lending platform Celsius Network is staring down possible bankruptcy, while crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital has just been served a notice of default by Voyager Digital. It has also reportedly been ordered to liquidate by a court in the British Virgin Islands.