Binance has announced the discontinuation of support for BUSD on December 15, following a directive earlier this year that mandated Paxos, the stablecoin's issuer, to halt its minting. In August, Binance had outlined plans to gradually phase out BUSD support by February 2024 and encouraged users to transition to FDUSD, with the conversion still available at no cost. Despite Binance's decision, Paxos asserts that BUSD will continue to be supported and redeemable through at least February 2024, according to a statement in a blog post.
The New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) directed Paxos to cease issuing BUSD in February of this year, as regulatory scrutiny on crypto entities, including Binance, intensified throughout the United States. Binance, in recent developments, agreed to pay over $4 billion in fines, and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, resigned after pleading guilty to willfully violating the Bank Secrecy Act.
BUSD, launched in 2019 by Binance and Paxos, is a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar. It held a significant position as the third-largest stablecoin globally, boasting a total supply exceeding $16 billion. Notably, Paxos has introduced a new USD-backed stablecoin named PYUSD, intended for use with traditional fintech giant PayPal.
