- Binance has converted its $1 billion Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) into the Circle USDC stablecoin
- The SAFU fund now makes up 3% of USDC’s total circulating supply
- This is the second conversion of the SAFU fund in just over a year, after previously converting from Binance USD (BUSD) to Tether (USDT) and TrueUSD (TUSD) in March 2023
Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, is converting its $1 billion Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) into Circle’s stablecoin USDC. The move represents 3% of USDC’s total circulating supply.
Background on Binance’s SAFU Fund
The SAFU fund is an emergency insurance established in 2018 to protect users from losses in extreme situations like exchange hacks. Users can be reimbursed for unforeseen losses through the fund.
Previously, the fund was held in Bitcoin, Tether, TrueUSD, and BNB across three separate wallets.
Details of the USDC Conversion
On April 18th, Binance announced it is moving 100% of the SAFU fund’s assets into USDC. The conversion provides stability at $1 billion and utilizes a transparent, audited stablecoin.
According to Etherscan, a SAFU wallet address transferred $800 million USDC on Ethereum with a minimal $188 transaction fee. There was also a 16,277 BTC transfer and 136 million BNB ($754 million) as part of the conversion process.
Significance for USDC
The $1 billion SAFU fund now represents around 3% of the total supply of USDC, which is $32.6 billion.
This conversion comes a little over a year after SAFU holdings shifted from Binance USD (BUSD) to Tether (USDT) and TrueUSD (TUSD). That previous move aligned with regulatory crackdowns on BUSD issuer Paxos.
Tether remains the top stablecoin with a $108 billion circulating supply. USDC is second largest, with supply up 33% since December.
