Binance abolished zero-fee trading for Bitcoin and several asset pairs on March 22, only maintaining TrueUSD.

Zero-fee trading pairs represent around 60% of all trading volume on the platform.

The decision could foreshadow a major shift for CEXs, ending Binance's dominance. 

In a Wednesday announcement, Binance phased out almost all zero-fee buying and selling Bitcoin (BTC) along with multiple trading pairs from its platform after nine months. An exemption was allowed for the TrueUSD/Bitcoin (TUSD/BTC) pair. This built atop a March 10 move to quietly wind down BUSD auto-conversion and re-list the stablecoins de-listed in September.

While the decision highlights TUSD's status as the platform's preferred stablecoin, it could see the largest cryptocurrency exchange, by trading volume, lose some of its market share.

A threat to Binance exchange's supremacy

The move may indicate a major shift for centralized cryptocurrency exchanges (CEXs), ending Binance's position as the leading crypto platform. Notably, zero-fee trading pairs represent around 60% of the platform's total trading volume.

Binance introduced zero-fee trading for some Bitcoin pairs worldwide during the summer of 2022, earning a significant market share against industry rivals. Noteworthy, this was when exchanges struggled with low trading volumes and plummeting revenues.

The strategic move last summer was, therefore, instrumental in helping the giant exchange expand its market share by around 22% relative to many other liquid exchanges.

It is worth mentioning that despite Binance's reasons for curbing zero-fee trading for select pairs, the move could prove unsustainable for the exchange in the long run. This point stands despite its ability to earn the platform a huge market share in the short run. Accordingly, without zero fees for most Bitcoin pairs, experts predict an eventual drop in Binance's market share.

The advent of TrueUSD stablecoin

TrueUSD was spotlighted around February when regulators clamped down on Binance USD (BUSD) and its issuing firm Paxos. In the debacle, the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) ordered Paxos to terminate its support for the stablecoin under the Binance exchange umbrella. As a result, the supply of BUSD plunged 50% from $16 billion to $8 billion.

With the latest move, therefore, Binance seems to have identified TUSD as a successor to BUSD, with the former's market capitalization soaring more than 50% since the announcement. At the time of writing, TrueUSD, managed by Archblock, is showing a market cap of $2.039 billion. Allegedly, Tron founder and cryptocurrency billionaire Justin Sun could be the figure behind TUSD.

Nevertheless, it remains premature to establish the extent Binance looks to pump TUSD as its platform's "de facto standard." Even so, making trading free is a formidable tool. Trading firm Folkvang founder Mike van Rossum has since commented on the matter, saying:

If people end up trusting TUSD – very uncertain right now – this zero-fee promo can easily grow into the biggest market by volume.

A Binance spokesperson has also commented that Binance's goal "right now is to identify a diverse set of stablecoin products to offer users, particularly products that are transparent, regulated, and have strong relationships with banking institutions in markets that support innovation."

The spokesperson also asserted that "TUSD is the first of what will hopefully be many new stablecoin products being offered to users."

These changes come after the stablecoin market endured turmoil in early March when multiple US banks closely affiliated with cryptocurrency firms closed down.

#Binance #tusd #Stablecoins #BNB #koinmilyoner

Binance announced 0% trading fee for BTC/TUSD trading pair on its cryptocurrency exchange. 

When Paxos issued stablecoin BUSD faced regulatory crackdown Binance moved to TUSD, doubling the asset’s market cap overnight. 

True USD supply crossed $2 billion amid banking woes of stablecoins like USDC, Binance minted nearly $50 million TUSD over the weekend.

Binance USD (BUSD) , the stablecoin issued by Paxos, faced regulatory crackdown from US regulators. Since then the exchange has moved on to an alternative, True USD (TUSD). While Circle’s stablecoin USDC suffered a depeg and most assets lost their parity with the US Dollar, TUSD’s market capitalization nearly doubled since March 12. 

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, Binance faced hurdles when its Paxos-issued stablecoin BUSD suffered a crackdown from US regulators. The exchange was quick to move on from BUSD to alternate stablecoins, offering market participants a wide variety of assets to pick from. 

Following the news of Circle’s USDC de-peg and decline, the exchange halted USDC swaps and picked a new stablecoin to offer commission-free trading, True USD (TUSD). 

The expert noted that CZ’s choice could make TUSD mainstream and multiply its market capitalization significantly. 

#czbinance #Binance #BUSD #tusd #koinmilyoner

Bitcoin price hitting $27,000 has caused markets to turn bullish, which has flipped investors' sentiment.

Accumulation seems to be a trend as stablecoin whales start increasing their gunpowder in case of a drop.

Tether and True USD have become a popular among investors due to the turmoil in the stablecoin ecosystem.

The collapse in United States banks in 2023 put a massive strain on the risk-on markets like cryptos and stocks. This caused a momentary spike in selling pressure due to panic, which caused the markets to tank. Judging by the current state, recovery crypto markets seem to be going well as compared to stocks and the credit for this goes to the stablecoin ecosystem.

Banking mayhem and crypto stablecoins

As recapped in a previously published article, the crisis began with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) going after stablecoin issuer Paxos. The simultaneous collapse of US banks caused markets to tumble. But a few things are inherently different in crypto markets, i.e., the stablecoin ecosystem. 

The $134 billion ecosystem is situated not just in the US but across the globe, making the short-term collapse in the US banking system localized to only a few stablecoin issuers. Tether, the largest stablecoin issuer by market capitalization, and a few others like True USD (TUSD) showed no depeg, while others like USD Coin (USDC), Dai (DAI), Frax (FRAX) etc., saw the coins move away from their $1 peg.

On-chain analysis reveals that the comeback seems to be fueled by two major stablecoins - USDT and TUSD. Tether added $2 billion worth of tokens last week, which was minted but not issued. 

Likewise, Binance, one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world by trading volume, converted $1 billion of its SAFU Funds into TUSD AND USDT, signaling that these stablecoins are, at the moment, safe.

Stablecoin whales fueled the March rally

The Supply Distribution chart for USDT and TUSD shows a similar trend, accumulation from whales holding between 100,000 and 10,000,000 coins. 

The number of Tether whales holding 100k and 10 million USDT saw a massive spike, denoting that more investors are converting their stablecoins to USDT. 

More specifically, USDT whales with addresses holding between 100k and 1 million saw a spike from 13% to 15% between March 9 and March 18. The addresses holding between 1 million and 10 million USDT increased from 20% to 22%. 

All of the signal points to the fact that these whales are ready with gunpowder to accumulate cryptos and trigger a run-up. 

For TUSD, whales holding between 100k and 1 million tokens increased from 44 million to 50 million. 

While the outlook of the entire market has flipped bullish after Bitcoin price tagged $27,000, investors are still cautious due to the troubling macroeconomic conditions. The bullish outlook is still uncertain, especially if the banking crisis gets worse. 

If the policy changes from the Federal Reserve gets hawkish, it could trigger a rally for the US Dollar, putting pressure on the risk-on assets and driving them to the ground.

#BTC #USDT #tusd #Stablecoins #koinmilyoner

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire pins the decline in the market value of the USDC stablecoin on investors wishing to ‘de-risk out of the U.S.’ due to regulatory and banking sector concerns.

In a recent interview, the executive acknowledged that the stablecoin has steadily declined since March, losing almost $13 billion.

USDC Decline Amid Broader Market Uncertainty

From a peak of almost $56 billion in 2022, USDC’s market value has decreased to just under $30.7 billion.

March caused a further decline in value after it was revealed that $3.3 billion in reserves used to underpin the stablecoin were lost in the defunct Silicon Valley Bank. USDC was temporarily de-pegged when the news surfaced, losing almost $13 billion.

Allaire noted, “We are seeing concern about the regulatory environment in the U.S.”

After the collapse, regulators vowed to make the depositors whole in the SVB collapse. Meanwhile, Circle also offered to cover any reserves shortfall.

But, stablecoins can become depegged from their base currency (normally USD) due to a volatile market environment and need real assets to ensure investor safety.

However, stablecoin regulations are still absent from the regulatory landscape.

How Other Stablecoins Are Faring

Allaire pointed out that the U.S. is trailing behind in crypto legislation compared to the Middle East, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the European Union. In the interview, he made the point that it is imperative for Congress to take action and address worries about the U.S. dollar’s survival in light of the development of internet-based currencies and blockchain technology.

On April 15, the U.S. House Financial Services Committee released the first draft of its stablecoin legislation. The Bill includes broad suggestions, such as prohibiting algorithmic stablecoins and designating the Federal Reserve as the regulator for stablecoins issued by non-bank companies.

Despite anticipated rules, Binance’s switch to TrueUSD (TUSD) amid its growth has garnered attention. TUSD, which trails BUSD and Tether in volumes, recently became the largest BTC trading pair on Binance.

TRON founder Justin Sun recently told Bloomberg that there aren’t many stablecoins on the market, contributing to the growth of TUSD.

According to Kaiko’s update from last week, Tether pairs represent 80% of all trading volumes on centralized cryptocurrency exchanges. TrueUSD is on 9% and could likely overtake the competition shortly, it said.

The stablecoin market has a capitalization of around $131.6 billion. Data from CoinGecko shows that Tether leads the list with $81.1 billion, followed by USDC and BUSD. TrueUSD ranks fifth with a capitalization of $2.04 billion after a spurt of exponential growth in the last two months. MakerDao‘s decentralized stablecoin DAI ranks fourth at $4.7 billion.

Stablecoin Market Caps 3-Month Chart | CoinGecko

Tether recently surpassed the $80 billion barrier after its previous supply peak in May 2022. The largest stablecoin is now near supply levels that were seen the year before Terra’s collapse knocked the market back.

#Stablecoins #USDT #BUSD #tusd #Binance