Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has “stopped” Bitcoin withdrawals amid a major market crash.
The “temporary” suspension came after Celsius, the second-largest cryptocurrency market, halted all withdrawals in the early hours of the morning after what bosses described as “extreme market conditions.”
Celsius, a cryptocurrency lender that operates as a bank, said: “We are taking this necessary action for the benefit of our entire community to stabilize liquidity and operations.”
Binance, meanwhile, said its stoppage in Bitcoin trading was due to a “blocked transaction,” adding that trading in other cryptocurrencies was not affected by the pause.
Celsius also said its 1.7 million users will continue to accumulate rewards as long as their accounts are frozen.
Cryptocurrency markets fell after the announcement, with Bitcoin falling to its lowest level since December 2020 at around $ 20,300.
Ether, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, fell more than 8 percent to $ 1,303, its lowest level since March 2021.
Celsius ’own CEL witness fell 73% overnight to $ 0.19, according to cryptocurrency price data site CoinGecko. April data suggested the witness was worth about $ 3 at the time.
The size of Celsius exposes it to a large part of the crypto markets, as the lender contracted a $ 500 million loan to Tether last year. Tether is a so-called stable currency whose value is linked to that of a real world currency, the dollar. The value of Tether has generally been flat this morning, having dropped from $ 0.999 to $ 0.998.
As of May 17, Celsius had processed $ 8.2 billion worth of loans and had $ 11.8 billion in assets, according to its website. Celsius said in August last year that it had more than $ 20 billion in assets, Reuters reported.
The lender operates like a traditional bank accepting user deposits, paying interest on them and making loans in cryptocurrencies.
An ad on its website this morning promised a return on investment of 18 units, spread across a variety of witness trading instruments.
In May, the cryptocurrency Terra crashed in the midst of what was described as a Black Wednesday for digital token markets.
A stable currency similar to Tether, the fall of Earth shook the cryptocurrency markets after a hitherto unnoticed failure in its model caused a fall in the value of a related witness by dragging Earth with it.