Binance.US taps MoonPay to help customers buy crypto

by RT Watson and MK Manoylov

Companies • August 22, 2023, 1:36PM EDT

Published 1 minute earlier on

UPDATED: August 22, 2023, 4:21PM EDT

The Block

Quick Take

Binance.US customers can use MoonPay’s services to exchange dollars for crypto.
Using MoonPay, Binance.US users can purchase Tether’s stablecoin and then use the digital currency to buy other crypto.

To possibly circumvent disruptions that have made it impossible for American customers of Binance.US to deposit or withdraw dollars, the cryptocurrency exchange is partnering with MoonPay, the company said last week on its website.

Binance.US customers who want to add to their account will now have the ability to exchange dollars for crypto by first buying Tether's USDT stablecoin, which can then be converted into other cryptocurrencies available on the platform, the statement said.

"We’ve partnered with MoonPay to make buying and selling crypto fast and easy, all within the Binance.US mobile app," Binance.US said in a statement. Customers can use debit cards, credit cards, Google Pay and Apple Pay to buy USDT. "USDT can then be used to instantly buy and sell 150+ different cryptocurrencies available on Binance.US," the company said.

"MoonPay provides both on-and off-ramp services," a MoonPay representative told The Block. "With respect to Binance.US users, we are providing a service for those users that want to convert their crypto to fiat and deposit into their US bank account. MoonPay performs rigorous KYC checks on all customers. We support many of our existing partners and exchanges with this functionality."

The Binance.US island

Binance.US customers have not been able to deposit or withdraw dollars for more than a month after banking partners cut ties with the American arm of Binance's crypto trading empire. Binance is the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in the world.

Binance may soon also be cleaved apart from Binance.US, with a June 17 proposal from the Securities and Exchange Commission aiming to stop Binance Holdings officials from accessing Binance.US cloud infrastructure. The proposal is still pending federal approval.

MoonPay did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Block.

Updated with a comment from a MoonPay representative.

About Authors

RT Watson is a senior reporter at The Block who covers a wide array of topics including U.S.-based companies, blockchain gaming and NFTs. Formerly covered entertainment at The Wall Street Journal, where he wrote about Disney, Netflix, Warner Bros. and the creator economy while focusing primarily on technological disruption across media. Previous to that he covered corporate, economic and political news in Brazil while at Bloomberg. RT has interviewed a diverse cast of characters including CEOs, media moguls, top influencers, politicians, blue-collar workers, drug traffickers and convicted criminals. Holds a master's degree in Digital Sociology.

MK Manoylov has been a reporter for The Block since 2020 — joining just before bitcoin surpassed $20,000 for the first time. Since then, MK has written nearly 1,000 articles for the publication, covering any and all crypto news but with a penchant toward NFT, metaverse, web3 gaming, funding, crime, hack and crypto ecosystem stories. MK holds a graduate degree from New York University's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program (SHERP) and has also covered health topics for WebMD and Insider. You can follow MK on X @MManoylov and on LinkedIn.