Bitcoin (BTC) is selling at a discount of nearly $3,000 on Binance.US, significantly outperforming global spot prices – but there’s just one problem.
On July 9, legions of cryptocurrency users began to notice a widening price gap between cryptocurrencies listed on U.S. cryptocurrency exchanges and their global spot prices, in what many are calling a “decoupling” of cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin is currently trading at $27,536 against the U.S. dollar on exchanges, representing a roughly 8.5 percent discount to the global spot U.S. dollar price of $30,106 at the time of writing.
Other cryptocurrencies also trade at a discount in USD terms. Ethereum is about $200 cheaper on Binance.US, trading at $1,695 at the time of writing. Some stablecoins such as USDT are also trading below their peg to Tether at $0.915 on exchanges.
Wow.Bitcoin trades at $26,970 on Binance US, compared to $30,300
Ethereum is $200 below normal levels
USDT is 0.889 cents pic.twitter.com/LgKeMEDZQv
— borovik.eth (@3orovik) July 9, 2023
However, while cryptocurrency discounts may seem attractive to arbitrageurs, the reality is that most investors will not be able to take advantage of them.
This is because the discount is only available when cryptocurrencies are traded against fiat dollars on cryptocurrency exchanges.
The problem is that Binance.US users have been unable to deposit new USD to the platform since the platform was suspended on June 9. In practice, this means that the discounted cryptocurrency can only be purchased with dollars that were already on the account before the suspension occurred.
Concerns that Binance.US will soon stop USD withdrawals have also led some users to trade their cryptocurrencies below market value to exit USD positions.
according to a e-mail According to a Binance.US message to customers, which has been circulating on Twitter, the last day for USD withdrawals is July 20.
related: Bitcoin Priced at $700 Premium on Binance US Crypto Exchange
A similar situation related to the Australian dollar occurred at Binance Australia in late May, when the company’s third-party payment provider closed fiat in and out.
BTC/AUD trading on Binance is down 20% from the global spot price.
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