Announced on their blog yesterday (Nov 26th), Binance will be combining all of their stablecoin pairs onto one market, the Stablecoin Market (USDⓈ). Binance says it will be an easier way for users to browse stablecoin trading pairs on Binance.
The announcement reads as follows:
“Fellow Binancians,
Binance has renamed the USDT Market (USDT) to now be a combined Stablecoin Market (USDⓈ). This is to support more trading pairs with different stablecoins offered as a base pair.
We will make a further announcement soon on the exact pairs to be initially moved or added to this market.
Please note that USDⓈ is not a new stablecoin: it is the symbol of Binance’s new stablecoin market.
Thanks for your support!
Binance Team”
The changes can be seen on Binance’s homepage already. Where the tab previously read, “USDT Markets,” now it’s labeled “USDⓈ Markets,” as shown below:
Browsing Binance’s listings shows that this is not a new stablecoin. Some hypothesized that this announcement means Binance will be combining Tether with other stablecoins to create a “basket of stablecoins,” in order to add liquidity to the exchange.
This (at least for now) is not the case. Tether (USDT) pairs still exist on Binance and continue to be the dominant stablecoin pairs on the exchange, as seen on their top USDⓈ markets:
Currency Competition
Binance’s move to change the USDT markets to USDⓈ markets could help move liquidity from USDT to the alternative stablecoins. Binance currently has PAX and TUSD pairs on their exchange. Although some users prefer TUSD and PAX to USDT, USDT continues to be used by traders due to its liquidity across all the exchanges.
The BTC/USDT trading pair is the #1 market on Binance, turning over $384M of volume over the past 24 hours. That’s more than ten times what is traded on the TUSD/BTC market, which has only traded $27M.
No matter which stablecoin ends up winning, this change by Binance could open up the playing field for Tether alternatives. Since Tether seems to be going through somewhat of a turbulent period, this move is likely to be welcomed by traders worldwide.
