- Coinbase announces to delist $BUSD from their listings
- Coinbase says Bianance’s stable coin did not meet their “listing standards” and will remove it from Coinbase.
- The SEC issued a Wells Notice for Paxos Trust, the issuer of BUSD
Coinbase will suspend trading for the Binance USD stablecoin on March 13, the exchange announced on February 27 on Twitter. The message mentioned its “listing standards” as being behind the decision. BUSD is the third-largest stablecoin by market capitalization.
According to the Twitter thread, the decision will apply to Coinbase.com (simple and advanced), Coinbase Pro, Coinbase Exchange, and Coinbase Prime. The exchange added, “Your BUSD funds will remain accessible to you, and you will continue to be able to withdraw your funds at any time.”
A Coinbase spokesperson said:
“Our determination to suspend trading for BUSD is based on our internal monitoring and review processes. When reviewing BUSD, we determined that it no longer met our listing standards and will be suspended.”
Binance did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
According to Coinbase’s website, its digital asset listings group votes on assets listed on the exchange “informed by a rigorous vetting/review process that evaluates assets against legal, compliance, and technical security standards.” In addition, there are additional business assessments and ongoing monitoring to ensure an asset continues to meet standards.
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission reportedly issued a Wells notice of planned enforcement action to blockchain infrastructure platform Paxos Trust, the issuer of BUSD, around February 12. The New York State Department of Financial Services ordered Paxos to stop issuing BUSD on February 13, leading to a $2 billion drop in market cap within days.
Coinbase posted a Twitter thread the following day: “We don’t know what aspects of BUSD might interest the SEC. What we do know: stablecoins are not securities.”
Paxos reportedly had “constructive” talks with the SEC on February 21.
