Bitfinex has introduced new fees on external wire requests that appear to be designed to reduce the frequency and size of fiat withdrawals. As of this week, the exchange will start charging 3 percent when its customers make more than two fiat withdrawals within a 30-day period. It will also charge a 3 percent fee when customers request “more than $1 million in aggregate in fiat withdrawals in any 30-day period.”
Bitfinex claimed that “regular withdrawals” will not be affected by the change, estimating that it will not impact “99 percent” of its customers. However, the exchange “may exempt customers from this charge in its sole discretion.”
The company also claimed that it “serves as the primary fiat gateway in the crypto ecosystem.” It added that it has processed more than 700 withdrawals, worth more than $1 billion in total, over the last month alone. Despite the purportedly high number of withdrawals it said it has been handling, a quick glimpse at the exchange’s subreddit suggests that many of its customers are still waiting for their transactions to be processed.