It is evident a lot of bitcoin companies suffer from banking issues as of right now. Bitfinex, BTC-E, and Xapo are all experiencing USD transfer problems as we speak. It appears the issue has now spread to OKCoin as well, as the exchange is temporarily suspending USD deposits. According to a company official, this is due to an issue with intermediary banks. This once again highlights the importance of peer-to-peer trading without intermediaries.
No one will be surprised to learn bitcoin companies have issues with USD transfers these days. The only exchange to bypass these problems is Kraken. In fact, the exchange only just added USD wire transfer support for deposits and withdrawals. OKCoin, on the other hand, is not faring all that well by any means. In fact, the company is suspending USD deposits effectively immediately.
No More USD Deposits For OKCoin As of Today
According to the company, this is due to ongoing issues with intermediary banks. It is likely OKCoin uses Taiwanese banks for their fiat currency services. Unfortunately, Taiwan is home to banks who are less focused on KYC and AML. Considering how the US recently upgraded its requirements for KYC and AML, they are no longer doing business with institutions not adhering to these rules. Until that situation changes, bitcoin service providers will experience a lot of issues.
OKCoin advises users not to send any future USD wires, as they will be rejected. The company is looking for alternative banking solutions tor resume the service as soon as possible. Unfortunately, they are not able to provide an ETA as to when this may happen. Switching to a different bank can take weeks, if not months, to complete. As a side effect, this leaves USD traders with very few options to buy and sell bitcoin right now.
All of this goes to show it is due time to stop relying on centralized exchanges. Bitcoin is designed to be traded in a peer-to-peer fashion. Centralized exchanges have no real place in the ecosystem, albeit they make for convenient access to bitcoin. However, when issues like these arise, there is usually a lot of panic inn the market. So far, that does not appear to be the case just yet, though. It is evident peer-to-peer marketplaces will continue to see higher trading volumes if this situation persists.
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