Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has announced plans to convert $1 billion worth of Binance USD (BUSD) from its Industry Recovery Initiative to native crypto assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and BNB. The move has reportedly contributed to buying pressure and pushed top cryptocurrencies higher. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao confirmed that the transaction was successful, and data shows it took only 5 seconds and cost $1.29. This conversion comes in the wake of Paxos, BUSD’s owner and issuer, being hit by a lawsuit from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), resulting in Paxos halting BUSD minting and “ending its relationship with Binance.” The move also comes amid a banking crisis in the United States that shook the market and affected some crypto companies, including USDC issuer Circle, which has $3.3 billion of its USDC reserves at the collapsed lender. Binance has suspended the auto-conversion of USDC to BUSD due to market conditions but has put forward the idea of crypto-backed stablecoins while claiming that banks are a risk to fiat-backed stablecoins.
