Bitcoin (BTC) was sold at a nearly $3,000 discount on Binance.US, giving a better rate than global spot prices – but there was only one catch.
On July 9, many crypto users began to notice a growing price difference between cryptocurrencies listed on crypto exchanges in the United States and their global spot prices, with many calling it the “depeg” of cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin is currently trading at $27,536 on the exchange against the US dollar, which is around an 8.5% discount from global spot USD prices of $30,106 at the time of writing.
Some cryptocurrencies also trade at a discount in US dollar terms. Ethereum prices are $200 cheaper on Binance.US, trading at $1,695 at the time of writing. Other stablecoins such as USDT are also trading below their Tether pegs at $0.915 on the exchange.
WOAH. Bitcoin sold at $26,970 on binance US vs $30,300 (real price)
Ethereum is $200 lower than normal
USDT is at 0.889 cents pic.twitter.com/LgKeMEDZQv
— borovik.eth (@3orovik) July 9, 2023
However, while crypto discounts look attractive for an arbitrageur, the truth is that most investors cannot take advantage of them.
This is because the discount only applies when a cryptocurrency is traded against fiat USD on a crypto exchange.
The problem is, Binance.US users have not been able to deposit new USD on the platform since June 9, when it was suspended. Effectively, this means that the discounted cryptocurrencies can only be purchased with whatever USD was already sitting in the account before the suspensions occurred.
Concerns that Binance.US will soon stop USD withdrawals have also led some users to sell their cryptocurrencies below market value to exit their USD positions.
According to a email from Binance.US to customers, circulating on Twitter, the last day for withdrawing USD is July 20.
Related: Bitcoin price on Binance.US crypto exchange at $700 premium
In late May, a similar situation occurred in relation to the Australian dollar in the Australian branch of Binance when the company’s third-party payment provider was closed fiat on and off ramp.
The price of BTC on Binance fell 20% compared to global spot prices when traded against the Australian dollar.
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