Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, today announced that it will begin automatically converting existing and new deposits of USDC, USDP, and TUSD stablecoins to its native BUSD, removing three rival stablecoins in the process.
The company says the move will improve liquidity and capital efficiency for users.
Among stablecoins, USDC is second in terms of market capitalization at $51 billion, according to CoinMarketCap. Binance’s stablecoin BUSD is a distant third, with a market capitalization of $19 billion, less than half that of USDC. This move effectively removes direct custody of USDC (and USDP and TUSD) for Binance’s 28 million users.
“This will not affect users’ choice of withdrawal: users will continue to be able to withdraw funds in USDC, USDP, and TUSD at a 1:1 ratio to their BUSD-denominated account balance,” Binance said in a statement. a support message announcing the change. , adding that the change is expected to go into effect on September 29.
Users will be able to see the converted balance in their accounts within 24 hours, the exchange says, adding that the minimum amount for manual conversion is 1 USDC, USDP or TUSD. Accounts with lower balances are automatically converted to BUSD.
Binance says it may change the list of stablecoins eligible for automatic conversion.
News of Binance’s move was met with some skepticism, noting that the move converts rival stablecoins into those of Binance.
“Crypto monopoly 101, Binance will remove $USDC as a tradable asset by September 25 to push its $BUSD.” wrote @BloodgoodBTC on Twitter. “Binance is removing competitors like Google did 10 years ago.”
Additional changes announced by the company include the removal of support for USDC, USDP, and TUSD products, including spot trading, futures, and margin lending.
The largest stablecoin, Tether (USDT), has a market capitalization of $67 billion and will remain accessible on Binance.
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