Bitcoin Trades at a 20% Discount on Binance Australia Following Banking Issues in the Country

Bitcoin was trading at about 20% discount on Binance’s Australia arm on Tuesday, compared with rival exchanges, according to data from CCData.

This comes after Binance Australia halted Australian dollar bank transfers earlier this month, citing its third-party payment service provider as the issue and said that it's working to find an alternative. Binance Australia will allow AUD withdrawals until June 1.

“The announcement from Binance prompted traders to sell their BTC/AUD pairs, resulting in the price reaching a historically high discount,” said Hosam Mahmoud, Research Analyst at CCData in a conversation with CoinDesk.

Bitcoin was trading at around $33,400 AUD ($21,700) on Binance compared to other exchanges such as Kraken, Coinjar and BTCMarkets, where it was trading at around $42,500 AUD ($27,700), according to CCData.

Binance Australia also had its derivatives license canceled in April, after the exchange made the request for it to be shut down.

Although the exchange assured customers that it will continue to operate in Australia, the effort hasn't successfully addressed the issue, according to Mahmoud. “This is evidenced by record-low trading volumes for the BTC/AUD pairs,” he said.

Daily trading volumes on Binance for the BTC/AUD pair were at 12,293,856.55 on May 18 prior to the announcement, and dropped to a low of 912,297.20 on May 20, according to CCData.

“According to our data, despite the significant discount, arbitrageurs are taking advantage of the lower prices, suggesting that the problem may be resolved once the funds are transferred to USDT.”