BUSD Market Capitalization Down, Binance Add USDC Ownership

Binance buys more USDC. (Photo; Co1n)

JAKARTA - Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, has reportedly increased its holdings on stablecoins pegged in US dollars, USDDD 1.5 billion (equivalent to IDR 22.8 trillion) over the past seven days, according to data researcher Martin Lee of Nansen.

Lee noted that this increase came after Paxos, another stablecoin publisher called BUSD, announced that they would stop printing BUSD. Since then, BUSD's market cap has declined due to pemulion being more prominent.

On September 5, 2022, Binance removed the USDC trading pair and automatically converted the customer balance to BUSD. Two weeks later, Wazirx followed Binance's lead by removing multiple stablecoins, including USDC, and converting the balance to BUSD. Lee expects the supply of tether (USDT) to increase in Binance more than USDC, "given you can't trade using USDC" on the exchange.

On February 19, nearly $3 billion BUSD has been removed from the market. This number has now risen to $3.55 billion since Paxos revealed that they will no longer print BUSD.

Although the stablecoin managed by Paxos is still the third largest by market capitalization, its value is already below the DAI valuation, which is US $ 5 billion (around IDR 76.2 trillion). BUSD, which was once one of the top ten crypto assets by market cap, is now at risk of being pushed out of the top ten.

Data researcher Nansen also noted that there are US$1.8 billion (Rp27.4 trillion) in USDC in Binance's main wallet today, which is the highest number in the last 90 days. However, it should be noted that Nansen's portfolio performers only see ERC20-based balances, and Binance has more than 100 million Tether (USDT) in the same wallet. Binance wallet also stores 79.24 million TrueUSD (TUSD) and 5.34 million DAI.

In short, Binance has increased its stablecoin holdings pegged with US dollars, USDC, after Paxos announced it would stop printing BUSD. While BUSD's market capitalization has declined, USDC has experienced an increase in supply in Binance.

However, it should be noted that Nansen's data only includes ERC20-based balances, and Binance has stablecoins and other assets in the same wallet. Nonetheless, BUSD may be at risk of being pushed out of the top ten leading crypto assets by market cap.