On Monday, the  American subsidiary of the world’s leading crypto exchange Binance.US, is witnessing an atypical price discrepancy that has resulted in cryptocurrencies trading at approximately $3,000 discounts. This price difference is evident across various cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ether, as well as stablecoins like Tether.

Bitcoin’s price on Binance.US is approximately $27,536, about 8.5% lower than its global spot price of $30,106 as of July 9. Ether is also trading at a discount, around $200 cheaper than its global price. Even Tether, which is typically pegged 1:1 with the USD, is trading at about $0.915 on the platform.

The root of this issue appears to be operational constraints. Binance.US stopped accepting new USD deposits on June 9, leaving users only able to buy crypto with pre-existing funds in their accounts. This, coupled with withdrawal restrictions, has led some users to sell their assets below market value.

However, the discounted trading of Tether on Binance.US does not necessarily indicate a depegging issue with the stablecoin itself. Amid the ongoing legal uncertainty surrounding Binance.US, market makers might be avoiding arbitrage opportunities, but this hasn’t affected Tether’s near-par value on Binance.com and other exchanges.

Tether’s CTO, Paolo Ardoino, clarified on Twitter why Tether was being sold for less on Binance.US, and why this doesn’t mean USDT has been depegged:

Tether’s management oversees its primary market, while the secondary markets, such as crypto exchanges, are the domain of arbitrageurs and market professionals. The discounted pricing observed for other cryptocurrencies like BTC on Binance.US does not suggest a global devaluation for these assets. The same logic applies to USDT as well.

In conclusion, both BTC/USD and USDT/USD pairs on Binance.US show similar spreads, indicating the issue is likely systemic to the exchange rather than a specific cryptocurrency issue.