Coinbase has announced that it will suspend trading for Binance USD (BUSD) from March 13, 2023. The announcement came two weeks after Paxos, the infrastructure blockchain company that operates BUSD, decided to stop minting BUSD under pressure from regulators.
According to Coinbase, the decision to suspend BUSD trading was made after internal evaluations and monitoring procedures, which led them to determine that the stablecoin no longer meets their listing standards. However, BUSD funds will remain accessible to users, and they will continue to have the ability to withdraw their funds at any time.
We regularly monitor the assets on our exchange to ensure they meet our listing standards. Based on our most recent reviews, Coinbase will suspend trading for Binance USD (BUSD) on March 13, 2023, on or around 12pm ET.
— Coinbase Assets (@CoinbaseAssets) February 27, 2023
The move by Coinbase could be an effort to avoid regulatory scrutiny, as some exchanges, including Kraken and Robinhood, have recently been accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of selling unregistered securities. Timothy Cradle, Legal Director of Blockchain Intelligence Group, noted that many exchanges took similar measures in 2020 after the SEC accused Ripple Labs of raising $1.3 billion in unregistered securities through its XRP token. Coinbase suspended XRP services after the lawsuit was announced, and the dispute between Ripple Labs and the SEC is still ongoing.
Paxos has owned and operated BUSD since its inception in 2019. The blockchain infrastructure company signed an agreement with Binance exchange to launch the BUSD stablecoin. Coinbase began listing BUSD in April 2022.
In addition, rumors have been circulating on social media that Crypto.com may delist BUSD after the stablecoin faced a series of FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt). According to AZCoin News, a Reddit user named Bronze|MiningSubs 53 claimed to have received a notification from Crypto.com that BUSD would be delisted from February 13. However, the user claimed that their BUSD balance would automatically convert to USDC.
Other users also reported similar information, while some users like the Twitter account @TkzcW denied receiving any notification from Crypto.com. Nevertheless, they confirmed that the exchange had suspended their BUSD transfer orders for six hours.
According to CoinGecko data, BUSD is the third-largest stablecoin in terms of market capitalization, with a total value of around $10.6 billion, after Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC. The decision by Coinbase to suspend BUSD trading reflects the growing regulatory pressure on stablecoins and the cryptocurrency industry as a whole.
Read more:
- Tether (USDT) Remains Dominant With More Than 50% Market Share As BUSD Falls Outside The Top 10
- Binance Plans To Get Rid Of Whopping Amount Of Its BUSD Stablecoins
- Stablecoin Market Rocked By SEC Charge: BUSD, USDC, USDT, And USDP In Flux