Bitcoin Drops 21% On Binance Australia Due To Closed Australian Dollar Withdrawal

Bitcoin (BTC) prices have fallen by 21% when traded at the Australian dollar

JAKARTA - The price of Bitcoin (BTC) drops by 21% when traded against Australian dollars on the Australian branch of Binance. This happened as traders rushed to cash out their crypto assets into Australian dollars before withdrawals from local banks closed within days.

On May 18, Binance Australia informed users that the Australian dollar service will be discontinued following the decision taken by their third-party payment provider. Deposits via bank transfers are stopped immediately, while withdrawals using the PayID service will still be open until June 1 at 17.00 local time. Binance Australia has also warned its clients that Australian dollars remaining on the exchange after May 31 will be automatically converted to USDT.

The announcement has caused a panic to liquidate crypto assets, causing the price of BTC to suffer a significant drop.

Currently, one BTC can be purchased for only 33,750 Australian dollars (IDR 330 million), or 21% lower than the global price.

Those hoping to take advantage of Bitcoin's lower prices may be disappointed. Without the ability to deposit Australian dollars into trading wallets and the high premiums for converting other crypto assets into Australian dollars, users may find it difficult to get their hands on BTC at those discounted rates.

Binance has also warned about the lifting of some crypto trading pairs with the Australian dollar on June 1 and reminded users to "watch for risks when trading."

Meanwhile, Binance said that they are continuing to look for alternative providers to continue withdrawing and depositing Australian dollars. Currently, the ability to buy and sell crypto using a credit or debit card is still available, although these prices appear to be in line with the market.

Binance has faced problems with regulators in Australia after its derivatives license was canceled by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission last month. Binance is also facing a major investigation by the U.S. Commodities and Futures Trading Commission.

Australian crypto broker Swyftx, which relies on Binance for its liquidity needs, previously stated that closing Australian dollars in and out of Binance would not affect their operations.