From decrypt by Vince Dioquino

Building on the momentum of anticipated changes to U.S. crypto policy, Binance.US said it aims to restore its USD services in early 2025,  according to a statement shared with Decrypt.

It marks the exchange's first major operational shift as regulatory pressure forced the exchange to suspend fiat trading last year.

The platform has operated under restricted banking access since June 2023, when SEC civil claims triggered a suspension of dollar deposits and withdrawals.

"While I can't provide a definitive launch date yet, let me be clear: It is not a matter of if, but when," interim CEO Norman Reed said in the statement.

Binance.US functions as a separate entity from Binance, the global crypto exchange, operating under BAM Trading Services to comply with U.S. regulations.

However, it offers a limited range of products and services compared to its global counterpart.

It follows recent comments from the global entity’s CEO, Richard Teng, who recently described discussions about Binance’s reentry into the U.S. market as “premature.”

Reed, who spent six years enforcing securities law at the SEC, pointed to what he calls "a concerted initiative by the outgoing administration" to deny crypto firms access to banking services.

The issue tagged as "Operation Chokepoint 2.0" has led observers such as Coinbase's chief legal officer, Paul Grewal, to speak up regarding the discovery of correspondences between the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and member banks.

Those documents could help establish grounds for claims about how certain groups or individuals in the U.S. government have intentionally debanked and restricted access to crypto firms.

'The fight isn't over'

Despite the regulatory overhang, the exchange says it has maintained steady operations, even as the company faced multiple probes over compliance and alleged financial misconduct.

Binance.US claims to have kept supporting 160 cryptos and staking for over 20 assets during that time, which Reed said far exceeds its closest rivals.

Having "survived" over 17 months of SEC scrutiny, which produced multiple depositions and hundreds of document requests, Reed is confident the regulator has found no evidence of wrongdoing on the exchange's part.

Looking ahead, the executive said their exchange is working on new partnerships to expand its custody services and wallet solutions alongside the planned fiat services restoration, which he said was the “top-requested and most anticipated” feature.

"Now that we've survived, our goal is to help crypto thrive and empower all Americans with freedom of choice," Reed said.