Bybit, a prominent cryptocurrency exchange, has announced the suspension of its USD deposit feature, which will take effect on March 10th.
The exchange, based in the United Arab Emirates, has made this decision following similar moves by other exchanges such as Binance, the world’s biggest exchange in terms of trading volume, which suspended dollar transfers recently.
A statement issued by the company partially read, “We have temporarily suspended USD deposits via Wire Transfer (including SWIFT) due to service outages from our end-point processing partner until further notice”.
Investors King earlier reported how the Silvergate Bank crisis halted cryptocurrency’s bullish and subsequently plunged Bitcoin below the $20,000 support level.
The constant barrage of negative news related to the cryptocurrency industry is causing significant anxiety among industry participants.
Markus Thielen, who leads research and strategy at Matrixport, a provider of cryptocurrency services, has noted that Bybit’s recent decision to follow in Binance’s footsteps during the Silvergate crisis is a significant development for the entire crypto market.
“When Binance halted USD transfers in January, bitcoin prices dropped -10%. Obviously, Binance has a much bigger impact than other exchanges but also now ByBit will halt USD transfers from March 10 onwards. This indeed a BIG deal for the industry,” Thielen said.
Meanwhile, just after announcing the suspension of USD deposits, Bybit has announced that it will begin to roll out Mastercard debit cards, enabling users to convert their crypto into fiat at the point of sale and ATMs.
The company noted that Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, USDT and USDC are the first set of cryptocurrencies that will be available for the service. It added that digital assets could be converted to EUR or GBP, depending on the client’s country of residence. Meaning, this will only be available to customers in select countries in Europe.
“By launching Bybit Card, we are creating a full 360-degree journey for our users, offering next-level reliability, products, and opportunities,” says Bybit Co-Founder and CEO, Ben Zhou.