Coinbase Encourages Users to Swap USDT for USDC
- The exchange is also waiving any fee on the conversion of USDT to USDC in order to stimulate the swap and make it frictionless.
- The move came only three months after rival exchange Binance started to auto-convert USDC to its own BUSD stablecoin.
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Popular cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is calling on its customers to convert their Tether (USDT) holdings to the USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin, the exchange said in a blog post on 8 December.
According to the announcement, the United States-based exchange will wave off any fee connected to the conversion of USDT to USDC — which was co-founded by Coinbase — for its global retail customers to make the transition frictionless. The company noted that the ability to swap USDT to USDC at no cost represented its continued effort to provide its users with “safe, responsible ways to hold and grow their crypto”.
“Now more than ever, stability and trust are of the utmost importance to customers. Fiat-backed stablecoins provide customers stability and confidence during times of volatility. However, the events of the past few weeks have put some stablecoins to the test and we’ve seen a flight to safety.”
Coinbase also stressed that its associated stablecoin was “unique” in that it was 100% backed by cash and short-dated U.S. treasuries held in U.S. regulated financial institutions, adding that it was “always redeemable 1:1 for U.S. dollars”. The company also pointed out that transparency has become a key factor in the industry, and that Grant Thornton — one of the largest auditing firms — delivered monthly attestations of USDC’s reserves.
Tether remains the largest stablecoin by market share, with a market cap of $65 billion, and its latest quarterly attestation — released on 10 November — claims it held 82% of its reserves in cash, cash equivalents, and other short-term deposits.
Coinbase’s announcement came only three months after Binance — the largest crypto exchange by trading volume — revealed it would be auto-converting USDC, USDP, and TUSD to its own BUSD stablecoin. While Binance claimed the move was made to “enhance liquidity and capital-efficiency for users”, it also resulted in USDC losing around $3 billion in market cap.
- A little over $13 million in altcoins were sent to crypto exchanges Binance and Coinbase in the past 24 hours, which is in accordance with a September court order.
- The court ordered a phased liquidation process, which allows the bankruptcy estate to sell $3.4 billion worth of digital assets over a certain period of time.
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- The digital ID project said Orb Operators received USDC payments as part of the project’s transitional phase after launch, and now that it is nearing its end Worldcoin will be switching to WLD payments.
- Worldcoin warned Orb Operators to check if they can claim rewards in their region as WLD are not available in the United States and “certain other restricted territories”.
- Coinbase’s Base blockchain was made available to the public on Wednesday, featuring over 100 dApps and services as part of its ecosystem.
- In order to show its capabilities and promote its mainnet partners, Base has also launched an event called “Onchain Summer” that will allow users to mint exclusive NFTs on the network.