Experts: Distancing Visa and Mastercard from Binance Is Unlikely to Hurt the Crypto Exchange
That Visa and Mastercard severed their ties with Binance, a crypto exchange that has recently been hit by legal troubles, comes as no surprise. However, it should have little impact on the market share of the crypto exchange.
Binance, the largest crypto exchange by trading volume, faces multiple indictments from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. These include allegations that Binance operated an unregistered company and misled investors about the risks associated with the company. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) also filed charges against Binance in May. The exchange has been accused of “willful circumvention” under US law.
Binance is also under investigation by the US Department of Justice, which is considering a fraud lawsuit against Binance.
Dave Weisberger is CEO and co-founder of CoinRoutes. He said the move was not surprising given the legal issues Binance is facing. It’s not surprising that payment processors want to distance themselves.
Visa has reportedly stopped issuing co-branded Visa cards in Europe. Mastercard confirmed that it would be ending its partnership with Binance, but didn’t provide details. We had four pilot projects in the market: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Bahrain. This decision applies to all Binance programs. The spokesman explained that there is no impact on other crypto card programs. Visa did not immediately respond to comments.
Binance announced on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that the Binance Card will no longer be offered to users from Latin America and the Middle East.
However, the move will not impact the crypto exchange’s market share due to its global reach. Weisberger explained that it is difficult to determine the impact on Binance. The exchange is still one of the leaders in terms of liquidity. “Until that changes, there will be action,” added Weisberger.
Leo Mizuhara said that the end of the partnership might not be big business for the entire industry. Hashnote is a CFTC regulated institution for managing digital assets. Mizuhara explained that this development is not a big deal for the industry as the issues with the CFTC, DOJ and other regulators are expected to see people and entities withdrawing from Binance.
Mizuhara also stated that Mastercard’s decision not to partner with Binance was reasonable given the recent focus on blockchain. Mizuhara said that Mastercard’s increased interest in the blockchain industry and its decision to distance itself from Binance was more due to institutions being wary of potential bad actors.
Visa and Mastercard have both been active in the blockchain sector recently, even during the ongoing bear market that has seen many large bankruptcies. Visa and Mastercard recently said they will continue to work with their industry partners to bring payment programs to market.