Bitcoin Trades At $3K Discount, Ethereum Available $200 Cheaper On Binance.US — Jim Chanos Questions 10% Arbitrage Across Major Exchanges

Bitcoin BTC/USD on Sunday faced a price discrepancy on the Binance.US crypto exchange, trading at a discount of nearly $3,000 compared to global spot prices. 

What Happened: This discount presents an appealing opportunity for traders to acquire Bitcoin at a significantly lower rate. However, there is a catch.

At present, Bitcoin is being traded at $27,536 against the US dollar on the exchange, representing approximately an 8.5% discount from the global spot USD prices, which currently stand at $30,106.

Similarly, Ethereum ETH/USD is experiencing a discount of approximately $200, with a trading price of $1,695 on Binance.US. Even stablecoins like Tether (USDT) are trading below their intended value, with a value of $0.915 on the exchange.

These discounted prices might seem appealing to arbitragers who seek to profit from price differences between exchanges. However, the reality is that most investors cannot take advantage of these discounts due to restrictions imposed by Binance.US. 

The discounted prices are only applicable when trading cryptocurrencies against fiat USD on the platform. Since June 9, users have been unable to deposit new USD into their Binance.US accounts.

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Why It Matters: As a result, investors can only purchase discounted cryptocurrencies using their existing USD balances before the deposit suspension was implemented. 

Binance.US has reportedly informed its customers, through an email circulated on Twitter, that the last day for USD withdrawals will be on July 20. This announcement has added to the uncertainty surrounding the platform and has contributed to the persisting discounted prices.

Jim Chanos, an American investment manager, questioned why such large arbitrage opportunities exist between major exchanges like this if cryptocurrencies are indeed considered a next-gen solution to fiat currencies. 

Price Action: At the time of writing, BTC was trading at $30,213, down 0.29%, in the last 24 hours, trident at $1.10, as per data from Benzinga Pro.

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