Binance to Temporarily Suspend Deposits and Withdrawals on BNB Smart Chain Soon: Here’s Why

TL;DR

Binance will temporarily halt BNB Smart Chain deposits and withdrawals due to maintenance, but trading will not be affected.
BNB’s price is down amid a market slump, with a potential rally expected following the release of former CEO Changpeng Zhao from prison.

The Upcoming Effort

The world’s largest crypto exchange will conduct wallet maintenance for BNB Smart Chain (BEP20) on September 5. To support the process, it will temporarily halt deposits and withdrawals on the network. The maintenance is scheduled to take approximately two hours, and services will be resumed after completion.

“The trading of token(s) on the aforementioned network will not be impacted. Binance will handle all technical requirements involved for all users,” the company assured.

BNB Smart Chain is a platform developed by the exchange that offers compatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). It enables developers to migrate their projects from Ethereum without needing to rewrite the code.

BNB Smart Chain operates alongside the BNB Beacon Chain (previously known as Binance Chain). The specific architecture allows users to transfer assets between the two chains, providing additional opportunities for trading and decentralized applications (dApps).

The native cryptocurrency of BNB Smart Chain is Binance Coin (BNB), which facilitates transaction fees and can be staked to participate in the network’s consensus mechanism.

BNB Price Outlook

The asset started the year on the right foot, with its price surging from $312 on January 1 to an all-time high of approximately $710 in June. Back then, BNB’s market capitalization exceeded $100 billion, surpassing well-known companies like Starbucks, Dell, UBS, and more.

However, the token’s price headed south in the following months. It currently trades at around $500 (per CoinGecko’s data), representing a 6% decline on a daily scale. The retreat coincides with a broader slump of the entire cryptocurrency market, where Bitcoin (BTC) briefly dipped below $56,00, while Ethereum (ETH) tumbled to as low as $2,300.

One factor that may trigger a renewed rally for BNB is the end of Changpeng Zhao’s prison sentence. Earlier this year, the former CEO of Binance was ordered to spend four months behind bars after he pleaded guilty to violating certain anti-money laundering requirements. Zhao (better known as “CZ”) is scheduled for release at the end of this month.