Tag: Binance Australia

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Australia Binance Australia Crypto Exchange Crypto News

Aussies Transfer to Local Exchanges as Binance Suspends AUD Fiat Services 

Aussie crypto exchanges have reported a big increase in new customers following Binance Australia’s suspension of AUD fiat services.

On May 18, Binance Australia told customers that its Aussie dollar services were suspended “due to a decision made by our third-party payment provider”. Meanwhile, the Australian Financial Review reported that Westpac had stopped its customers from transacting with Binance amid concerns over the use of overseas exchanges by scammers.

National exchanges have since reported a significant increase in traffic and downloads across their platforms.

Aussie crypto users move to local exchanges

Jason Titman, chief operating officer at Australian-owned exchange Swyftx, said:

“We’ve just seen a seven-month high in the number of new customer registrations. Aussie crypto users want the peace of mind that comes from dealing with a secure, large national exchange at the moment.”

Binance Australia has told its customers that they can continue to withdraw AUD via bank transfer until June 1. In its latest update, the exchange also said it was “working hard to find an alternative provider to continue offering AUD deposits and withdrawals.”

In a media statement on May 18, Westpac Group Executive of Customer Services and Technology, Scott Collary, said: “Digital exchanges have a legitimate role to play in the financial ecosystem. But since the rise of digital currency, we’ve noticed that scammers are increasingly using overseas exchanges.”

New research reveals Aussie crypto users biggest consideration when choosing an exchange

Titman said new Swyftx customer research had shown Australian ownership was now the biggest consideration for local crypto users when choosing an exchange.

“There has been a major shift in sentiment over the last six months and especially since the collapse of FTX, with local crypto users opting for local crypto exchanges.”

“Australians want to trade on secure exchanges that are based in the country and operate to local standards.”

“Swyftx has one of the largest teams in the country and we work closely behind the scenes with banks and law enforcement to keep our customers safe, with around 15% of our team dedicated to security and scam prevention.”

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Binance Bitcoin

What Is Fuelling The Current Bitcoin Price Instability?

What Is Fuelling The Current Bitcoin Price Instability?

The price of Bitcoin has been on a roller-coaster of instability in recent days, but what is fuelling the dramatic slumps and surges? 

Whenever the price of a trillion dollar asset takes a sizeable tumble, speculation will abound as to the drivers of such instability. Are whales driving down the Bitcoin price so they can increase their vast holdings at discounted rates? Are Chinese electrical blackouts to blame for the falls? Or are possible changes to US capital gain taxation laws spooking crypto investors? 

Biden’s Proposed Tax Laws

Under President Biden’s proposed changes, capital gains taxes rates could hit over 43% for high income earners. This is a huge disincentive for investors who have profited from the surge in crypto markets as they may have to hand over a huge slice of any windfalls to Uncle Sam. Trading crypto is a volatile enough exercise without capital gain taxes, especially for newcomers who are not accustomed to the manic swings like unflappable long-term Bitcoin holders.

While there is no single answer, large and sudden falls generally indicate heavily leveraged trading positions being cleaned out. Unlike the stock market, crypto markets trade 24/7, and a fall in price while an investor sleeps has the potential to wipe out his/her positions. Rapidly falling stocks can also be suspended by an exchange so investors can pump liquidity into their trading accounts, but crypto markets are not equipped with the same circuit-breakers. Short positions are therefore ruthlessly liquidated, thus exacerbating the downward momentum.  

Bitcoin perpetual graph for leveraged traders via TradingView

Options To Short Bitcoin

What we know for sure is that there are many more options to short Bitcoin than ever before. Bearish investors can now short sell Coinbase, Tesla, MicroStrategy, or the Bitcoin itself to drive prices lower. For large institutional investors, this provides a massive opportunity to profit from the growing crypto space.  Investment banks have long used their financial weight and extreme leverage to drive down prices of stocks and commodities such as gold. Bitcoin is now big enough to attract their attention. Much can be gained by short-selling assets that then decline precipitously. 

For long-term crypto investors, wild swings are of mild concern. But for leveraged traders on Binance or other platforms, they are make or break occurrences. A correction of 2% or 3% has the potential to wipe them out. As crypto markets continue to expand and gain wider exposure, and large institutional investors enter the game, we can expect more not less of the roller-coaster style swings.   

Jackson Byrne – Crypto News Guest Author

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Australia Binance Crypto News

Binance AUS and Travala Discuss the Crypto Landscape in Australia

In a recent video interview, the CEO of Binance Australia, Jeff Yew, discussed the impact of cryptocurrencies in Australia and the travel industry, together with Juan Otero, CEO of Travala.

In an AMA session (ask me anything), both Jeff and Juan discussed the impact of cryptocurrencies in Australia. Jeff expects to push forward his educational plans for the country, as well as bringing more support of AUD payments for new potential tokens, like Travala’s AVA.

Why Aussies are Using SMSF to buy Bitcoin

Jeff stated that the outstanding growth in corporate accounts, including SMFS, is followed by the growth of the crypto market and the loss of purchasing power through the years with fiat money.

“Your money is being devalued much more quickly than what your parents experienced. With the expansion of fiat money through the years, you’re looking at losing half of your purchasing value in 5 years. In the U.S. monetary expansion is not stopping, similar thing in Australia as well.

So your halfway point of your asset losing 50% of its purchasing went from 30 years to 5 years. If you have one hundred million in the treasury, you’re going to lose ten million each year. We’re looking at a much more shorter timeframe

On the other hand, Otero stated that is only a matter of time until crypto payments are accepted globally, adding that the travel industry could benefit greatly from the integration of blockchain technology.

There is an increase in interest and adoption of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency. My vision is that travelling will be decentralised and community-governed, and we’re giving developers the tools to build their travel platforms, so there will be a travel supply, and they can greatly benefit from that.

The Effects of the Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic heavily impacted the travel industry in Australia. Borders remain closed, biosecurity measures and restrictions are said to be lifted in June this year, but it’s not guaranteed.

But as cryptocurrencies started surging in 2020, Travala avoided the negative effects of the pandemic thanks to its support for crypto-payments. Hence, becoming a leader in the travel industry thanks to its blockchain-based infrastructure, attracting crypto-enthusiast.

A Demand Tsunami

Both Jeff and Juan are seeing large inflows of users on their companies, and a greater demand for their products. Binance Australia hit trading volume records, and Travala managed to grow its community thanks to its blockchain-based infrastructure, avoiding certain perks of the pandemic.