LONDON, June 29 (Reuters) - Customers of the Binance cryptocurrency exchange said on Tuesday they were unable to deposit or withdraw sterling from the platform, days after British regulators cracked down on some of its activities in the country.
Britain's financial watchdog last week said Binance, one of the world's biggest crypto exchanges, cannot conduct any regulated activity and issued a warning to consumers about the platform.
Binance said the move would not have any impact on the services offered by its main site, Binance.com, which can still be accessed by UK-based users despite the Financial Conduct Authority's move.
But users said on Twitter that they were unable to withdraw or deposit sterling at the exchange, both via the Faster Payments network or bank cards.
A "down for maintenance" message appeared, some said.
Others complained that Binance had given no information beyond that.
Faster Payments, which enables mobile, internet and other payments between UK bank accounts, Hướng Dẫn Bán Coin (USDT) did not respond to emailed questions from Reuters. Binance did not respond to a request for comment.
"I tried to withdraw Fiat but it's blocked and it just says maintenance. Typically when there's maintenance Binance announce it on their socials etc," one Twitter user told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
"No explanation or anything was given. Frustrating."
Others tagged Binance's CEO Changpeng Zhao as they complained the problem remained unfixed.
"@cz_binance how come you not fixing withdrawals for U.K. Binance users," asked Peter Englefield, a country DJ in Leeds, northern England.
Binance, which is coming under increasing scrutiny by regulators globally, offers services ranging from digital token trading to derivatives, as well as emerging technology such as tokenised versions of stocks.
Separately, Britain's Natwest Group has capped the daily amount customers can send to cryptocurrency exchanges, including Binance, because of concerns over investment scams and fraud, a spokesperson told Reuters on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Tom Wilson Editing by Rachel Armstrong and David Evans)
