Since this Monday, Binance France customers can no longer deposit and withdraw their funds, following the end of the partnership with payment processor Paysafe. Some customers have also had their accounts blocked. What’s happening on the platform and what can customers expect?
Binance France in disarray following the end of a partnership with Paysafe
At the beginning of the summer, Binance France announced the end of its partnership with Paysafe, which was due to expire on September 25. The company promised users a seamless transition, with no interruption of services:
“Please note that withdrawal services will remain functional, allowing you to withdraw your funds via the same means as for EUR deposits. “
But on the announced date, it didn’t go as planned. Binance France found itself without a service provider this week, and the company was forced to negotiate an extension of the partnership with Paysafe. For the time being, no other service provider has been mentioned, in a particularly wary regulatory context.
As a result, on September 26, a Binance France spokesperson advised customers to convert their fiat deposits into cryptocurrencies, and confessed to having no solution for the time being:
“Binance is working as quickly as possible to welcome new partners, and we’ll have news very soon. “
What’s the latest on Binance?
According to customers, there have been withdrawal difficulties for several weeks now. Some have had their accounts blocked when they tried to withdraw their funds. Binance France’s teams assure us that the partnership with Paysafe has been extended, but in fact deposits and withdrawals are still inaccessible for French customers.
Some of them have claimed that when they log on to the mobile app, a message invites them to exchange their cryptocurrencies for fiat. However, we were unable to verify this information.
According to Binance France, which was interviewed by our BFM colleagues yesterday, some accounts are indeed being examined by Paysafe:
“Paysafe recently informed us that they were subjecting a very small portion (0.085%) of Binance users with Paysafe accounts in Europe to an early closure review. […] Paysafe will delay withdrawals for these users. Once Paysafe has completed its review, affected users should be able to withdraw funds via bank transfer. “
But other users in contact with Binance customer service said that customer service had mentioned significant delays in reopening, of up to 60 days.
A problematic situation for Binance France
Exchange platforms often have several partners to manage fiat deposits and withdrawals, in order to avoid this type of situation. For Binance France, the challenge is to find one or more partners. It is also likely that its legal situation will make companies in the sector cautious. As a reminder, the exchange platform is accused of offering services that are normally reserved for service providers with PSAN status in France. The investigations also target the company’s KYC procedures.
Binance has chosen (or been forced) to withdraw from several markets in recent months, in the face of increasing regulatory pressure in Europe and elsewhere. The regularization of its situation in France is therefore a major issue.
