Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase announced that it will suspend buying/selling and delisting of the BUSD stablecoin asset, managed by Paxos. The decision follows Paxos’ announcement that the New York State Department of Financial Services ordered the firm to cease issuing the US-dollar-pegged BUSD token.
Coinbase To Halt BUSD Stablecoin Trading On March 13
On February 27, 2023, Coinbase revealed that, following a crackdown by regulators on the stablecoin, it would halt the buying and selling of binance usd (BUSD). This came after the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) issued a Wells Notice to Paxos on February 13. Reports indicated that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was also attached to the matter. Paxos held a press conference confirming that the NYDFS issued an order for the regulated entity to stop issuing stablecoins.
“We regularly monitor the assets on our exchange to ensure they meet our listing requirements. Based on our latest reviews, Coinbase will suspend trading for [binance usd] (BUSD) on March 13, 2023, around 12 p.m. ET,” the company said in a statement tweeted on Monday. “Trading will be discontinued on Coinbase.com (basic and advanced trading), Coinbase Pro, Coinbase Prime, and Coinbase Exchange.”
Many cryptocurrency supporters have commented. One person asked in the thread located below Coinbase’s BUSD suspension: “Will you suspend USDC when Gary comes over for that too?” Others criticized Coinbase’s timing of the stablecoin suspension: “So at what point did BUSD suddenly fail to meet its listing requirements, and what standard particularly did it fail to meet?” another person wrote in response to Coinbase’s tweet. Statistics show that 177,125 distinct wallets hold BUSD according to the stablecoin token contract as of press time.
BUSD currently ranks eleventh in cryptocurrency valuation, having been knocked out of the top ten by market capitalization. Prior to the Paxos announcement on February 13, there were 16.1 billion BUSD in circulation. As of February 27, there are 10.73 billion USD in circulation, after the 5.37 billion token supply was disposed of. Binance’s Reserve wallet suggests that the exchange holds 8.64 billion USD, which is 80.52% of all circulating supply.
What impact do you think Coinbase’s suspension of BUSD could have? Share your thoughts and opinions on this topic in the comments section.
