By Adrian Zmudzinski
The world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance partnered with U.S.-based stablecoin issuer Circle to accelerate the adoption of the USDC stablecoin.
The two companies announced their collaboration at the Abu Dhabi Finance Week on Dec. 11, and said they hope to “support the development of the global digital assets and broader financial services ecosystem.”
The crypto exchange plans to extend the availability of USDC on its platform for trading, saving, and payments applications.
Binance and Circle have not answered Decrypt’s request for comment at press time.
Furthermore, Binance will adopt USDC as the primary stablecoin in its
treasury—an action described in the announcement as “a powerful signal
about the world moving on-chain.” Circle, on the other hand, will
provide Binance with the technology and liquidity necessary to improve
its services.
Related reading :: Tether Stops Minting Euro-Backed Stablecoin, Citing Hostile Regulators
The announcement follows leading stablecoin Tether stopping minting its euro-backed stablecoin, EURT, due to EU regulatory pressure in November.
According to a September consumer protection group Consumers’ Research report,
Tether’s world-leading dollar-backed stablecoin USDT is caracterized by
a lack of transparency around stablecoin issuer Tether’s U.S. dollar
reserves.
USDT
is “disaster for consumers waiting to happen,” according to the
organization, mainly due to Tether’s lack of a full audit from a
reputable accounting firm of the dollar reserves. With the European
Union adopting its Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) framework,
Binance and other exchanges may find themselves forced to delist
Tether’s stablecoins.
Related reading :: Consumer Watchdog Calls Tether a 'Disaster for Consumers Waiting to Happen'
Circle, on the other hand, secured a MiCA-valid license this summer—offering
Binance access to a stablecoin that may end up critically important in
serving the EU market. The exchange does have a history with its own
stablecoin. In 2023, it was forced to phase out its Binance USD (BUSD) stablecoin last year due to regulatory pressure.
Binance’s stablecoin partner for BUSD issuance, Paxos, had been investigated
by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over the project.
While no enforcement action was taken by the SEC, the issuer was ordered
to stop minting BUSD by the New York Department of Financial Services.
