BUSD Turns 1: How It Became a Leading Stablecoin and What Lies Ahead

On the one-year anniversary of BUSD’s launch, we look back at some of the highlights for our stablecoin and how its role continues to evolve in an ever-changing blockchain world, including its expanding role in DeFi.

When Binance USD (BUSD) was created in September 2019, in collaboration with Paxos, we set out to provide a stablecoin that would work as a trusted stablecoin within the Binance ecosystem. The New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) approved our stablecoin upon launch, and we introduced trading pairs for BUSD against BTC, BNB, and XRP.  BUSD was available for 1:1 purchase on the Paxos platform and subjected to regular audits to make sure that reserves and issuances were indeed 1:1.

From there, we gauged how we could grow BUSD even further. We’ve worked to increase the issuance, reach, and use cases for this stablecoin. As a result, we reached new milestones at a breakneck pace. In fact, we were able to mint 1 billion BUSD in just 261 days, the fastest-ever for a stablecoin. 

One year after launch, and here are the numbers for BUSD:

• $2.4 billion BUSD issued in total.

• $230 million in peak market capitalization, reached just today.

• 155,000 users holding BUSD on Binance, plus thousands more on many other crypto platforms.

• 97 trading pairs on Binance, with dozens more on other exchanges.

• 60+ use cases on many crypto platforms

• 30+ exchanges and DEX that list BUSD

• 0 maker fees for BUSD trading on Binance

Jump into the Decentralized World

BUSD has achieved good results in use cases for exchanges, offering good liquidity, savings on trading fees, loans, deposit interest, futures cross collaterals, and more. But we want to expand further. This time, we have been exploring various use cases beyond the exchange realm to drive massive adoption. One notable example of this is BUSD’s introductory steps in the world of decentralized finance (DeFi). 

Last month, BUSD added $2 million of liquidity on decentralized exchange (DEX) protocol Uniswap, across the BUSD/USDT and BUSD/USDC trading pairs. Meanwhile, the exchange liquidity pool Curve.finance listed BUSD on its stablecoin exchange. Curve.finance and Yearn.finance also added their own BUSD stablecoin pools.

Stablecoins play an important role in DeFi, as they are usually being used as collateral assets or loan assets. BUSD offers the following advantages to DeFi protocols:

• BUSD is regulated and audited regularly, contributing to further stability.

• BUSD has a large user base, with more than 150,000 users holding it on Binance.

• BUSD has a wide network of fiat on-ramp and off-ramp support. Many local currencies can be used to easily purchase and exchange BUSD from Binance. 

• BUSD can be quickly purchased and redeemed for the US dollar, even in large volumes.

• BUSD has very good liquidity, with 90+ trading pairs on Binance.

• BUSD has more stable prices compared to other stablecoins. 

Right now, there are many DeFi services already supporting BUSD. Here’s how the DeFi ecosystem for BUSD works:

• DEX, or where to trade BUSD: Uniswap, Curve, 1inch, Kyber, Loopring, Tokenlon,  Mooniswap, Paraswap, Bepswap.

• Earn, or where to deposit BUSD to join liquidity mining or earn from DeFi products: Aave, Curve, Yearn, Delphi, Cream, Fortube, Bepswap, 1inch.

• Lend, or where to borrow BUSD:  Aave, Cream, Fortube.

As BUSD enters Year 2 in a fast-changing decentralized economy, we will work even harder to solidify BUSD’s status as a leading stablecoin, with more listings and use cases on DeFi protocols, as well as more issuances and platforms where you can spend and use BUSD.

Happy First Anniversary, BUSD!