The major cryptocurrency exchange Binance.US has announced a new partnership with the crypto payments firm Moon Pay Ltd. to open up U.S. dollar payments two months after the exchange said that it was moving to a “crypto-only” exchange structure.

The exchange announced Tuesday that it will now use the U.S. dollar denominated stablecoin Tether, or USDT, as its “base asset” for transactions and users will be able to use MoonPay to fund their accounts using U.S. dollars. MoonPay is a service that allows users a fast, simple way to buy and sell cryptocurrencies using credit cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay to fund their accounts with USDT and transfer it back to USD.

Stablecoins are commonly used in the crypto industry as a medium of exchange between volatile cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin and Ethereum, and traditional currencies because they are “pegged” to a currency such as U.S. dollar. In the case of USDT, one token will always exchange for $1 USD.

After funding their accounts with USDT their tokens on the new Binance.US crypto-only exchange to buy and sell more than 150 different cryptocurrencies.

The company is affiliated with Binance Holdings Ltd., the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, but operates only in the United States and claims to be entirely separate in order to serve U.S. customers. Binance Holdings does not provide services to U.S. customers.

Binance.US began its migration to become a crypto-only exchange in June after notifying its customers of the upcoming suspension of U.S. dollar deposits in amid a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The regulator targeted the company’s operator BAM Trading Services Inc., affiliate Binance Holdings Ltd. and founding Chief Executive Changpeng Zhao alleging that the company was operating an unregistered securities exchange.

According to Binance.US at the time, the lawsuit had created challenges for the company’s banking partners, causing the company to halt bank deposits and withdrawals. Shortly after the lawsuit, the SEC asked a court to freeze the company’s assets temporarily.

The company said that led to its decision to become a crypto-only exchange created by what it called “extremely aggressive and intimidating tactics” being used by the SEC. Deposits were suspended on June 9 and withdrawals were suspended by June 13.

Prior to the lawsuit, the crypto banking industry was shaken by a wider crisis in March when a number of crypto-friendly banks suffered bankruptcies and closures, including the collapses of Silicon Valley Investment Bank, Silvergate Bank and Signature Bank. All of these closures happened within the span of two weeks, making it more difficult for crypto platforms to do banking in the U.S.

Image: Pixabay