Binance resumes withdrawals and deposits in Brazilian Reais

Binance announced on Thursday that it has resumed deposits and withdrawals for Brazilian customers, following a change in payment providers that interrupted crypto transactions between the exchange and the country’s instant payment system Pix for nearly three weeks.

Several local media outlets reported on June 17 that Binance had stopped deposits and withdrawals in reais via Pix. That day, the cryptocurrency exchange announced it was no longer doing business with Barueri, Brazil-based bank Capitual for payment services in the country. 

Binance, which has been expanding its local presence in Brazil over the past few months, then announced that it had picked Latam Gateway as its new payment provider on June 24.

Earlier this week, local media outlets including Folha de São Paulo reported that a São Paulo court ordered that $451.6 million Brazilian reais (about $84.6 million) of Capitual’s funds be blocked. However, many details about the issue are still unclear.

A Capitual spokesperson told The Block that the amount relates to the purchase and sale of assets made by Brazilians on the Binance platform. It said the funds were blocked after Capitual adapted its platform to meet new requirements from Brazil’s central bank, and that withdrawals were suspended when Binance did not implement those changes. 

“Capitual does not comment on the decision of the São Paulo Court of Justice (TJSP), resulting from the ongoing judicial process filed by Binance, for running in secrecy of Justice,” the company said in a statement to The Block on June 5.

Meanwhile, Binance reiterated in a July 4 media statement that it is no longer doing business with Capitual. 

“On June 24, the exchange announced that it had signed a contract with a local partner more committed to its values ​​and to Brazilian users,” Binance said in response to an article in the publication Valor Econômico mentioning the blocked funds. “Binance also stresses that it has taken all necessary and reasonable steps towards Capitual to protect users and their resources and ensure they are not adversely affected by the change.”