Binance to halt crypto debit card in Latin America, Middle East

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance will suspend its crypto debit card services in Latin America and the Middle East from Aug. 25.

The crypto debit card worked like most other debit cards that allowed their users to make payments on a day to day basis. The only difference is that these cards were funded by cryptocurrency assets.

The crypto debit card services in Latin America and the Middle East will be terminated by Sept. 21 but the exchange claimed refunds and disputes can still be processed until Dec. 20, 2023.

The issue first came to light when an X (formally known as Twitter) user enquired about the issues with crypto debit cards in Colombia. Binance responded to the query with the announcement suggesting that debit card services will be suspended starting Aug. 25 without offering clarity on the issues that led to the decision.

Hello there,
The Binance Card will no longer be available to users in Latin America and the Middle East. The product, like most debit cards, has been utilized by Binance’s users to pay for basic daily expenses but in this case, the cards are funded with crypto assets. Only a tiny…

— Binance Customer Support (@BinanceHelpDesk) August 23, 2023

Binance first announced its plan for crypto-backed debit cards in April 2020 with a focus on entering the global payment market. By July 2020, these crypto debit cards were being shipped to European countries and several others around the world. The crypto exchange later partnered with payment processor Swipe with a focus on offering crypto debit cards in the United States as well.

Related: PayPal UK to halt Bitcoin purchases until early 2024

Cointelegraph reached out to Binance to enquire about the possible reasons behind the suspension of its crypto debit cards in Latin America and the Middle East but didn’t get any answers from the exchange on the same. Binance, however, told Cointelegraph that  “only a tiny portion of our users (less than 1% of users in the markets mentioned) are impacted by this.”

While Binance claimed only 1% of such users would be impacted by the decision, some of the Binance CEO tweets on the crypto debit card-related announcement and responses on X were found to be deleted.

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