Binance to Block US Access to Main Website

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance said on Friday that it is blocking US customers from accessing its services.

In an update to its terms and conditions, the Exchange operator said that it "is unable to provide services to any U.S. person.”

This new rule comes into effect on September 12th. Once in place, it will mean US customers won't be able to trade with Binance or deposit funds into their account with the exchange.

The reason this sudden change took place likely stems from another announcement made by Binance on Thursday - that the company is going to be launching an exchange in the US.

Called Binance.us, the new exchange has the approval of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, a division of the US Treasury Department that deals with financial crime.

Bad for traders, bad for Binance

That new exchange will be launched in conjunction with BAM Trading, though it is unclear as to who exactly controls that firm and what they do.

As annoying as this state of affairs might be for US traders, it's also likely to damage Binance.

The changes to the terms and conditions are on Binance's main site - Binance.com.

And today, approximately 15 percent of that site's traffic comes from the US.

"There will be a few restrictions on Binance.com accompanying [the US site launch]," said Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao on Twitter. "But some short term pains may be necessary for long term gains. And we always work hard to turn every short term pain into a long term gain.