Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency offering investors price stability. The most popular stablecoins are those backed by the United States dollar — the world’s leading reserve currency. Others are less popular and not widely used, so many may not have heard of alternatives if they haven’t searched for them. According to data from the International Monetary Fund, the euro is the world’s second most widely held reserve currency, behind the U.S. dollar and ahead of the Chinese yuan. The euro is the official currency of the eurozone, comprising 20 of 27 member states of the European Union (EU), with …

Binance USD (BUSD) market cap has fallen below $10 billion for the first time in almost two years amid a United States regulatory crackdown on its token issuer and a planned delisting from a major crypto exchange. BUSD’s marketcap has been on a steep downward trajectory since its all-time high (ATH) market cap of $23.49 billion on Nov. 15, just a few days after the shock collapse of FTX. As of today, the stablecoin’s marketcap has fallen to $9.66 billion — levels not seen since Jun. 29, 2021. Most recently, BUSD has been the subject of a potential lawsuit against …

Crypto traders' urge to create leverage positions with Bitcoin (BTC) appears irresistible to many people, but it's impossible to know if these traders are extreme risk-takers or savvy market makers hedging their positions. The need to maintain hedges holds even if traders rely on leverage merely to reduce their counterparty exposure by maintaining a collateral deposit and the bulk of their position on cold wallets. Not all leverage is reckless Regardless of the reason for traders' use of leverage, currently there is a highly unusual imbalance in margin lending markets that favors BTC longs betting on a price increase. Despite …

Coinbase will suspend trading for Binance USD (BUSD) stablecoin on March 13, the exchange announced Feb. 27 on Twitter. The message mentioned “listing standards” as it announced its decision. The decision will apply to Coinbase.com (simple and advanced), Coinbase Pro, Coinbase Exchange, and Coinbase Prime, according to the tweet thread. The exchange added, "Your BUSD funds will remain accessible to you, and you will continue to have the ability to withdraw your funds at any time." A Coinbase spokesperson told Cointelegraph: “Our determination to suspend trading for BUSD is based on our own internal monitoring and review processes. When reviewing …

The International Monetary Fund would prefer to differentiate and regulate crypto assets rather than enforce an outright ban, though the nuclear option will remain on the table for now. Speaking on the sidelines of the G20 finance ministers meetings in Bengaluru, India, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva explained how the United Nations financial agency views digital assets and what it would like to see in terms of regulation. “We are very much in favor of regulating the world of digital money,” and this is a top priority, she stated. During an interview with Bloomberg published on Feb. 27, she responded …

Citizens Trust Bank, a financial institution regulated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), has partnered with Circle Internet Financial to hold some of its reserves in USD Coin (USDC) — a move the companies said would promote financial inclusion and digital literacy in the greater Atlanta area. On Feb. 24, Circle announced the Atlanta-based Citizens Trust Bank would hold $65 million in USDC reserves as part of a broader collaboration between the two companies. The bank’s USDC reserves will provide small businesses with access to capital and be used for other financial inclusion initiatives. Citizens Trust’s president and chief …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is not the appropriate regulator for stablecoins, says Circle founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire. In an interview with Bloomberg on Feb. 24, the Circle chief executive aired his views on the SEC and its recent moves to clamp down on the crypto industry, including stablecoin issuer Paxos. Allaire appears to have taken issue with the SEC's focus on stablecoins, arguing that dollar-pegged “payment stablecoins” should be under the oversight of a banking regulator, rather than the SEC. “I don’t think the SEC is the regulator for stablecoins,” said Allaire, adding: “There is …

USD Coin (USDC) issuer Circle plans to increase its workforce by 15-25% in 2023 amid a sea of layoffs across the industry, reported the Wall Street Journal. At a time when a significant chunk of industry-wide firms is laying off staff to mitigate their financial woes, Circle has gone against the tide to hire more people. 41% of all layoffs in 2023 came from the cryptocurrency industry. Major cryptocurrency firms that made significant employee cuts include Polygon, Chainalysis, Bittrex, Huobi, Crypto.com, Coinbase, Gemini, Genesis, and Wyre. A major factor behind crypto companies reducing manpower was attributed to the prolonged crypto …

The community of decentralized finance stablecoin protocol Frax Finance has voted to fully collateralize its native stablecoin Frax (FRAX), marking an end to the algorithmic backing of the protocol. The FIP-188 governance proposal initially posted on Feb. 15 reached a quorum following a 98% vote in favor, according to a snapshot on Feb. 23 — which would change the collateralization model of FRAX. “The time has come for Frax to gradually remove the algorithmic backing of the protocol,” last week’s proposal read. Near unanimous vote to move $frax to 100% CR over time. Seems like @fraxfinance serious about making it …

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) published a notice on Feb. 22 describing new commitments it expects from crypto asset trading platforms (CTPs) seeking registration in Canada. The CTPs will enter into a new version of preregistration undertakings (PRUs), which are legally binding documents. Registered CTPs will be contacted by their principal regulators about compliance with the new expectations. The new commitments represent investor protections in light of the spate of CTP insolvencies that occurred in 2022, the CSA wrote. The new commitments touch on issues that include segregation of assets, leverage, determination of capital, transparency and others. The notice devoted …

The United States Congress needs to take control of crypto legislation to make it a more “open process” where the entire marketplace is looked over “comprehensively,” suggests the chief of the prominent U.S. crypto industry body. In a Feb. 22 Bloomberg interview, Blockchain Association CEO Kristin Smith said the industry needs U.S. lawmakers to lead crypto legislation despite it making the process “very slow” and regulators “stepping in” in the interim. Smith noted that despite regulators “moving very quickly,” progress on legislation is happening “behind closed doors,” suggesting it's vital for more industry involvement in an “open process” which would …

Stablecoin issuer Paxos was reportedly discussing the Binance USD (BUSD) stablecoin with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission following a Wells notice from the financial regulator. According to a Feb. 21 Reuters report, Paxos chief executive officer Charles Cascarilla said the firm was “engaged in constructive discussions” with the SEC and would continue to speak in private. The report followed the stablecoin issuer facing a lawsuit from the SEC, in which the regulator alleged BUSD was an unregistered security. Cascarilla reportedly said that Paxos would consider defending its position that BUSD was not a security through litigation. On Feb. …