• Coinbase and Binance, two of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, have taken action in response to Circle’s stablecoin, USD Coin (USDC), suffering a de-peg following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB).
• Coinbase has temporarily halted its USDC to USD conversion and requested that users wait until Monday when banks will reopen. Meanwhile, Binance has taken a different approach by adding several new stablecoin trading pairs and running fee promotions.
• USDC has dropped from its $1 peg and is currently exchanging hands at $0.89 at press time. This depeg has caused rising fears among crypto market participants and concerns that USDC may suffer the same fate as Tether’s USDT.
Coinbase Halts USDC Conversion
Coinbase, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, has temporarily halted its USDC to USD conversion due to heightened market activity resulting in withdrawals through banks. The exchange requested that users wait until Monday when banks will open before converting back their currency.
Binance Adds Stablecoin Trading Pairs
In contrast to Coinbase’s decision, Binancehas responded by adding several new stablecoin trading pairs with fee promotions and offers for users. These include BTC/TUSD, ETH/TUSD, TUSD/USDT, USDC/USDT and USDP/USDT spot trading pairs which will be available on March 11th at 14:00 UTC.
Circle Receives Substantial Deposits of USDC
Data from Lookonchain reveals that several crypto institutions have made substantial deposits of USDC into Circle or bought back USD in the past 24 hours. Coinbase alone deposited $1.97 billion into Circle while an unknown organization with addresses starting with “0x3356” transferred significant amounts of USDC across platforms. This may be an attempt to stabilize the value of their crypto holdings amidst market fluctuations.
USDC Depegged from $1 Peg
USDC suffered a de-peg from its original $1 peg and is now exchanging hands at $0.89 according to current data rates on coinmarketcap . This has caused rising FUD among crypto market participants who are concerned that it may share a similar fate as Tether’s USDT coin which experienced a major collapse not too long ago due to lack of transparency regarding finances backing it up..
Conclusion
The suspension of conversions on Coinbase coupled with Binance’s new spot trading pairs are attempts by both exchanges to respond quickly yet effectively towards this situation concerning Circle’s stablecoin, USDC , suffering a de-peg following SVB’s collapse . Whether these decisions will prove effective remains unclear but this is certainly an issue many investors are keeping close tabs on given how critical trust is within the cryptocurrency community .