On Saturday, Bybit, a cryptocurrency exchange, announced that it is suspending the acceptance of US dollar deposits for both national and international customers. This decision was made due to service interruptions from their processing partner, and withdrawals will also be halted from March 10th. However, users can still deposit and withdraw cryptocurrency through wallets and purchase funds through credit cards and other payment methods.
Bybit's spokesperson clarified that the payment gateway interruption is limited and does not affect other fiat or cryptocurrencies or account funding channels. This move comes after Binance halted dollar transfers a month ago, and amid a crisis at Silverage, a California-based lender that offers banking services to crypto firms. Matrixport's head of research and strategy, Markus Thielen, believes that the decision by Bybit to suspend USD transfers following Binance's lead during the Silvergate crisis is significant for the crypto market, and he noted that there appears to be a deliberate attempt to cut off USD access for crypto firms.