Update Jan.19, 6:50 am: This article has been updated to include a statement from Matt Poblocki.
Crypto exchange Binance has reintroduced direct bank transfers in Australia two years after the exchange was abruptly “cut off” from the Australian banking system.
As of last Friday, Binance Australia has relaunched direct fiat bank and PayID deposits and withdrawals to its Australian users.
The rollout began with a small group of users last year, according to a press release on Monday shared with Cointelegraph.
Binance Australia and New Zealand general manager Matt Poblocki told Cointelegraph in a statement that fiat on and off ramps represent a “vital connection between traditional finance and digital assets” that support broad user participation and confidence.
Limited fiat access created friction for local users trying to participate in the digital asset ecosystem and put up barriers, slowing adoption and limiting growth. Reinstatement of the feature at Binance has now taken out a major barrier, according to Poblocki.
“Through our new partnership with Bolt Financial Group, we are now pleased to reintroduce secure, reliable fiat payment rails for our Australian community,” he added.
Last September, industry executives, including Poblocki, told Cointelegraph that users in Australia still face banking barriers when engaging with exchanges and other crypto businesses.
A survey released at the time also found 58% of respondents wanted easy access to deposit funds into an exchange with no limit, while 22% had changed banks to make buying crypto easier.
Binance Australia was cut off from banking in 2023
Binance Australia’s team was told in the middle of the night in 2023 that the exchange was going to be “cut off” from Australia’s banking system, with the exchange’s regional manager at the time, Ben Rose, claimed the reasons were “not entirely clear.”
“Banks in Australia have at times refused banking services or restricted transactions involving cryptocurrency platforms and customers. As a result of these challenges, in 2023, Binance Australia discontinued AUD deposits and withdrawals by bank transfer and ceased all AUD trading pairs,” Poblocki said.
The third-party payments provider for Binance Australia, Cuscal, declined to elaborate on why it specifically pulled support for Binance Australia.
The provider later said it was trying to limit the impact of scams and fraud and would continue to terminate any clients that do not meet its onboarding and compliance requirements.
Binance Australia users were left with the option to deposit or withdraw fiat funds via a debit or credit card, or by depositing or withdrawing cryptocurrency.
Related: Most US debanking cases stem from government pressure, report says
Poblocki said in the press release that the current rollout of direct fiat transfers has been a measured process that took into account several factors.
“We have been deliberate in our phased approach, garnering feedback, fortifying our compliance controls, and refining the user experience to ensure a smooth rollout to our hundreds of thousands of local users,” he added.
Binance exec calls fiat a “foundation” for 2026
During a Friday episode of the exchanges podcast, Binance Beach Weekly, Poblocki said 2026 is going to be about two main things: “regulatory consistency and certainty for the market.”
He also said that “preempting 2026 I think fiat is our foundation now, and from that foundation will be a lot of other things that we start bringing to the market, listening to our users, reacting and responding a lot more and probably faster as well.”
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