As the crypto community awaits the Ethereum Merge, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance prepares its users to get more ETH by introducing zero-fee trading for the ETH/BUSD pair. The much-anticipated Merge, expected to transition the Ethereum blockchain from a proof-of-work (PoW) consensus algorithm to proof-of-stake (PoS), is scheduled to happen on September 15.
It is expected that there will be increased interest in ETH in the run-up to the Upgrade. In anticipation of this, Binance has cut trading fees to zero for spot trading on the ETH/BUSD pair. Recently, there has been a marked increase in demand for ETH as users prepare for the event.
Zero-Fee ETH/BUSD Spot Trading For One Month
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has announced zero-fee trading for Ethereum on its platform. The zero-fee trading option, which only applies to ETH spot trading against the exchange’s stablecoin, will be available for a validity period of one month, starting August 26 to September 26. Binance users can now benefit from reduced fees over the next month.
“All users will enjoy zero maker and taker fees for the ETH/BUSD spot trading pair. The ETH/BUSD spot trading pair will be excluded from BNB fee discounts, fee rebates, or any other form of fee adjustments or promotions.”
This fee cut was also affirmed by Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, who posted on his Twitter account that the platform’s users will “pay $0 fees when trading the $ETH/#BUSD spot trading pair” starting Friday.
Binance has a different scheme for VIP users and spot liquidity providers. According to the announcement, “trading volume on the ETH/BUSD spot trading pair will be excluded from the 30-day volume calculation toward Trading Fee Level” for VIP users. Similarly, for spot liquidity providers, marker volume on the said spot trading pair “will be excluded from the maker volume calculation toward the spot liquidity provider program.”
“We Are Making Enough”
Binance has given reasons for this move. The explanation was given in the exchange’s blog post:
“With The Merge quickly approaching, we understand there’ll be an influx of crypto users, both newcomers and veterans, interested in the Ethereum ecosystem and its native asset, ether. As a user-first company, we want to ensure everyone has the opportunity to buy and sell ETH with minimum barriers to entry.”
According to Binance, Ethereum (the second-most popular crypto by trading volume) is a vital Web3.0 pillar, just like Bitcoin. The platform is also home to many dApps, and doing away with trading fees paves the way for DeFi, NFTs, and increased use of smart contracts in crypto.
Last month, the crypto trading platform rolled out a zero-free trading option for its users worldwide as part of its 5th birthday celebrations. Earlier in June, the crypto company eliminated trading fees for American traders using its U.S.-based subsidiary in an attempt to attract more users and eat into Coinbase’s market share, which is the leader in the U.S. crypto market.
As Binance set the place for the zero-fee trading trend, some market participants were concerned about the exchange’s profitability. Zhao responded to one such user, assuring him that Binance was “making enough” to offer competitive products to users.
“Although we’ll miss out on some fees, Binance’s reserves are still as robust and healthy as ever. And no, we’re not doing something behind the scenes to compensate for the lost revenue”
Increasing Demand For Ethereum
According to data from Santiment, a blockchain analytics platform, Ethereum’s development activity has spiked in the last 30 days, from 275 on July 25 to 301 on august 24. In addition, Ethereum’s transaction fees are at two-year lows, reaching 13 gwei, according to YCharts data.
As such, demand for the asset has increased, with ETH price growing massively over the last month. At the time of writing, Ethereum was exchanging hands for around $1,700, up 4.4% in the previous 24 hours (CoinMarketCap). However, after recording an impressive 19% growth in the last 30 days, the ETH price has dropped by around 7% over the previous week.
