Binance USD stablecoin activity slides to two-year low

Binance USD activity has dropped massively since regulators spotlighted the leading crypto exchange’s dollar-pegged stablecoin.

The number of Binance USD sending and receiving addresses reached fresh two-year lows today, according to data firm Glassnode, which tracked both metrics using a seven-day moving average.

The number of Binance USD receiving addresses has reached a two-year low. Source: Glassnode / Twitter

Binance USD, a stablecoin often known by its ticker BUSD, is a joint project between crypto exchange Binance and financial services provider Paxos. 

The decline in Binance USD activity follows Paxos’ receipt of a Wells notice from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in February. The regulator listed BUSD as an unregistered security — a decision Paxos “categorically” disagreed with.

The following month, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao announced that his exchange would convert the roughly $1 billion remaining from its Industry Recovery Initiative funds to bitcoin, ether and BNB. The crypto assets were to be purchased with Binance USD.

The exchange has also been delisting some Binance USD pairs — such as perpetual contracts for STEPN’s, Near Protocol’s and Avalanche’s native crypto assets.

As Binance USD retreats, tether’s dominance is intensifying

Binance USD once accounted for over $23 billion in stablecoin supply, according to The Block’s data — a figure that has fallen to just over $6 billion today.

Tether’s USDT, meanwhile, currently accounts for more than $82 billion — roughly $50 billion more than second-placed USDC, which is issued by Circle.

By far the dominant dollar-pegged stablecoin in the crypto industry, tether continues to mint new tokens at a relatively rapid pace.

When specifically looking at Ethereum’s stablecoin supply, the total USDT adds up to over 36 billion tokens. USDC accounts for less than 29 billion tokens. Binance USD — as noted previously — totals just over six billion tokens.

The supply of USDT has, some argue, historically helped signal the direction in which the price of bitcoin — or the crypto market as a whole — will trend.

“Generally, Tether issues new USDT when they see and anticipate higher demand for it,” Simon Cousaert, a research director at The Block, explained last month. “This indicates new cash is coming into the system — generally used to buy bitcoin, ether and other cryptocurrencies.”

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