Binance Stops Offering Crypto Visa Debit Card in Europe While Partners Step Back

Olga Kharif, Bloomberg News

The Binance logo on a smartphone arranged in the Brooklyn borough of New York, US, on Wednesday, June 7, 2023. The list of digital tokens deemed as unregistered securities by the Securities and Exchange Commission now spans over $120 billion of crypto after the US agencys lawsuits against Binance Holdings Ltd. and Coinbase Global Inc. Photographer: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Binance is no longer offering its Visa debit card in Europe, the latest retrenchment by the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.

Existing holders of the European Economic Area card will be able to use them until Dec. 20, Binance said in a blog on its support website on Friday. About 1% of Binance’s users are impacted by this change, according to a Binance spokesperson.

Users of the card are able to convert and spend cryptocurrencies at more than 60 million online and offline merchants worldwide, according to Binance’s website. It’s been available to users from European countries including France, Germany and Spain.

Crypto debit cards had become popular during the last crypto boom, and different flavors had been released by everyone from Binance to Coinbase to Gemini. Binance Visa Card became available in Europe in September 2020.

Mastercard Inc. and Visa Inc. have been stepping back from their card partnerships with Binance, which is facing growing scrutiny from US regulators. Visa stopped issuing new co-branded cards with Binance in Europe as of July. Visa didn’t immediately return a request for comment.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission sued Binance and its Chief Executive Officer Changpeng Zhao in June for breaking securities rules. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission sued it earlier this year as well, for shirking rules to allow American users access to the exchange. The company has disputed the allegations.

In recent months, Binance has found itself increasingly isolated from the traditional financial system. It got cut off from the US banking system in February, and lost the ability to accept some bank transfers in Australia in May. Over the summer, it shuttered Binance Connect that allowed business to accept crypto via Visa and Mastercard.

Saulius Galatiltis, chief executive of Bifinity UAB, a payment processor that serves as a gateway for fiat transactions by customers of Binance, stepped down this week. It was the latest of many executive departures from the company in the last three months.

--With assistance from Emily Nicolle.