Binance, the largest crypto exchange in the world, has announced it is gradually ending support for its native stablecoin, BUSD.
“As Paxos has halted minting of new BUSD,” read today’s statement, “Binance will gradually cease support for BUSD products. It added, “Please be assured that BUSD will always be backed 1:1 by USD.”
According to a press release, the crypto exchange will delist BUSD spot and margin trading pairs, although no specific dates have been provided.
Not all products and services that use Binance’s native stablecoin will be affected, however. Deposits and withdrawals of BUSD tokens through Ethereum will continue, as will deposits on Polygon, BNB Chain, Avalanche, and Tron.
As Paxos has halted minting of new BUSD, #Binance will now gradually remove support for the stablecoin on our platform.
BUSD will always remain backed 1:1 by USD, and we continue to support a wide range of other stablecoins.
Find more details below.
— Binance (@binance) August 31, 2023
Binance did not immediately reply to a request for comment from Decrypt.
Phasing out BUSD
Phasing out BUSD in the broad spectrum of products and services that currently support it will be done in stages, says the company.
Unless the date is left open-ended, Futures, Earn, Loans, Gift cards, and Pay products will gradually discontinue their use of BUSD starting in the early weeks of September and lasting up to December.
Today’s announcement offers mixed signals regarding the company’s overall wellbeing.
Binance faces serious regulatory woes across the world, including multiple investigations from law enforcement in a number of jurisdictions. The United States claimed the company broke securities laws, France is looking into potential “aggravated money laundering,” and Brazil has accused a Binance executive of running a pyramid scheme.
The company has also ended its co-branded crypto card partnership with Mastercard and Visa in select countries, as well as terminating the product in Latin America and the Middle East.
Binance continues to launch new products, however; this week it unveiled a crypto-to-bank payment product dubbed Send Cash in nine Latin American countries.
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Source: https://decrypt.co/154427/binance-to-phase-out-busd-support-encourages-users-to-convert-into-other-stablecoins
