• Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) announced that the exchange will be switching the remaining BUSD from its $1 billion Industry Recovery Plan to native crypto, Bitcoin, and Ethereum.
• Binance converted BUSD to USD through Uniswap at 05:31:47 UTC on March 13.
• Signature Bank is the third New York bank to fail after Silvergate Bank and Silicon Valley Bank.
Binance Swaps $1 Billion Industry Recovery Funds
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) declared that the exchange will be switching the remaining BUSD from its $1 billion Industry Recovery Plan to native crypto, Bitcoin, and Ethereum. The wallet held 985,088,975.25 of this currency which was then converted to USD through Uniswap at 05:31:47 UTC on March 13.
Signature Bank Closure
Signature Bank is the third New York bank to fail after Silvergate Bank and Silicon Valley Bank due to a concerted campaign by authorities to shut down crypto-friendly banks. As part of this effort, Binance’s BUSD Auto-Conversion policy—implemented last September—was turned off on Saturday; users may now exchange their BUSD for other stablecoins before March 18 at 6:00 AM UTC.
Binance Coin & Ethereum
Binance also stated that some fund movements will occur on-chain in order for transparency purposes; it is likely that these funds are being moved into Bitcoin (BTC), BNB, and Ethereum (ETH). This move by one of the largest exchanges in the world implies a great show of support for all three cryptocurrencies involved in this transaction.
Stablecoin Crisis
The failure of crypto-friendly institutions and depeg events of stablecoins has caused much disruption within the industry as a whole. With these funds being moved into BTC, ETH, and BNB instead of fiat currencies like US dollars or euros could signify an increasing trend towards decentralized forms of money over centralized solutions like banks or governments.
Binance Industry Recovery Initiative
The implementation of such an initiative shows how serious Binance is about helping industry recover financially during turbulent times like these when many businesses have been struggling with closures due to COVID-19 restrictions as well as rising inflation rates around the world. It remains unclear if other exchanges will follow suit with similar initiatives but it’s definitely something worth keeping an eye out for in 2021 and beyond!