• Bitcoin trades at a huge discount on Binance Australia if paid for using the Australian Dollar as the fiat deadline nears. 
• Traders looking to cash in on the discounted BTC were stunned by the inability to deposit Australian dollars in wallets and other conversion obstacles. 
• Binance continues to experience difficulties in Australia as its derivatives license was rescinded by regulators last month. 

Binance announced on May 18 that it would shut its Australian dollar services due to a decision from its third-party agent in the country. A move that may have triggered chaos. 

Bitcoin (BTC) is trading for about $22,000 on Binance Australia, a massive 21% drop when traded against the Australian dollar. The massive discount comes as the deadline for local bank withdrawals in Australian dollars nears. 

At press time, one BTC exchanges hands globally for $28,051 but trades in Binance Australia at roughly  $21,998. Binance informed users that funds left in AUD will be converted to USD Tether but even that has failed to stop the panic in the markets.

The panic and rush to cash out have led to the price being largely discounted at a 21% rate. A Binance spokesperson has confirmed the position adding that the platform will look for an alternative soon. 

“Due to the recent removal of fiat on-ramp services by our payment processor’s banking partner, some Australian users have been withdrawing their AUD holdings from the platform in advance of the off-ramp closure on 1 June. As a result, AUD pairs have experienced less liquidity which has impacted their pricing. We will be delisting the remaining AUD pairs in line with the closure of fiat off-ramp services. We remain focused on securing additional fiat relationships to serve our users.”

No room for arbitrage gains

A 21% discount on the price of Bitcoin is a good arbitrage opportunity with many tweeting on plans for a huge gain. However, traders now face certain hurdles as the platform has halted deposits in Australian dollars coupled with the popular asset conversion now becoming a Herculean task due to the premium placed on it. 

Furthermore, while the company has announced a search for an alternative local payment provider, it will delist several trading pairs on the AUD on June 1 telling users to “pay attention to the risks when trading.”

The exchange is under fire for that decision as analysts have described it as compounding the woes of users in a short period. Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, is under regulatory pressure from many jurisdictions including Australia.