Crypto exchange Bybit suspends dollar payments via bank transfers

livemint.com:

Cryptocurrency exchange platform Bybit is temporarily suspending US dollar-denominated deposits and withdrawals through bank transfers, including SWIFT payments.

Dollar wire deposits have been temporarily suspended and withdrawals will be halted on 10 March, Bybit announced on its website. The platform has cited “service outages from our end-point processing partner."

The crypto exchange site said that customers can use other methods to buy and withdraw cryptocurrencies. The platform didn’t identify the processing partner behind the suspension of bank transfers.

Bybit’s move comes amid the unravelling of the crypto payments network operated by ailing US lender Silvergate Capital Corp. The round-the-clock, real-time system was used by a host of exchanges and investors but was discontinued Friday.

The digital assets-focused bank said late on Friday that effective immediately it had made a "risk-based decision" to discontinue the Silvergate Exchange Network (SEN).

"The crypto market reacted to the negative news from Silvergate Bank, with both Bitcoin and Ethereum down ~4.8% for the week," analysts at brokerage Bernstein said in an industry note.

A slew of crypto heavyweights including Coinbase Global and Galaxy Digital have dropped Silvergate as their banking partner after the lender's latest filing raised questions about its ability to continue as a going concern.

The crypto industry has long struggled for ready access to banks. US officials have intensified a clampdown following the collapse of the FTX exchange, warning lenders of the risks of doing business with the digital-asset sector.

Meanwhile, Binance – one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges – last month said it’s temporarily suspending deposits and