WazirX Announces Delisting of USDC, USDP, and TUSD in a Clear Boost to BUSD ⋆ ZyCrypto

India-focused crypto exchange WazirX will unlist three leading stablecoins — Circle’s USDC, Paxos’ USDP, and TrueUSD’s TUSD — effective September 26. In a statement, the company said that users could withdraw their funds by October 5, after which these stablecoins will automatically be converted into BUSD.

“WazirX has stopped deposits of USDC, USDP, and TUSD, and we will not support any new deposits. To enhance liquidity and capital efficiency for users, WazirX will implement BUSD Auto-Conversion for users’ existing balances of USDC, USDP, and TUSD stablecoins at a 1:1 ratio,” the company said in its statement. 

The move closely mimics the one announced by Binance on September 5. Aimed at improving liquidity and capital efficiency, the world’s largest crypto exchange by volume decided to consolidate rival stablecoins into its native stablecoin – BUSD, ZyCrypto reported a few days back.

WazirX’s decision to help BUSD emerge as one of the most important stablecoins by its action to unlist three prominent stablecoins from its platform is a little surprising given the recent Twitter spat between Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) and WazirX CEO Nischal Shetty. 

The face-off between the two honchos came off on the issue of WazirX’s ownership. After Indian authorities froze a bank account linked to WazirX during their investigation into a suspected money laundering case last month, CZ expressed concerns about how WazirX is managing its affairs. Shetty replied that Binance owns WazirX and CZ again took to Twitter to explain that the 2019 takeover deal of WazirX by Binance was never complete. CZ maintained that Binance offered WazirX only technical support – wallet service and offline transaction solutions. 

The WazirX’s bank account with about $8 million in balance was since restored.

Indian exchanges have faced a sharp drop in trading volume beginning in April due to various issues, including a new taxation policy and problems with INR deposits. But the volume dropped further starting in July when 1% transaction tax as Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) kicked in.

While all other exchanges saw their volume drop, Binance – surprisingly -seemed to be doing better than ever. 

Media reports citing data from Sensor Tower, a mobile and internet data intelligence company, said that the downloads of the Binance app in August were the highest this year, and it was about three times more than the runner-up CoinDCX. FTX also saw its downloads jump in August from the July figure.

One of the reasons that media reports cited for this growth was that Binance and FTX have not yet started levying the transaction tax. 

WazirX’s latest decision to unlist three prominent coins and boost BUSD underscores that despite the public spat between CZ and Shetty, the cooperation between the two crypto exchanges is continuing.