Coinbase invites retail customers to convert USDT to USDC

Coinbase launched a campaign to shift the retail customers of the bitcoin exchange from Tether (USDT) to a reliable and trusted stablecoin USD Coin (USDC). The platform will waive the conversion fee.

Switch to a trusted stablecoin: USD Coin (USDC). Now convert Tether (USDT) to USDC with zero fees.https://t.co/OObSqNWdpj

— Coinbase (@coinbase) December 8, 2022

The option can be found in both desktop and mobile versions of the platform.

“Recent weeks’ events have tested some stablecoins. We have witnessed a flight to quality,” — according to the statement.

Against the backdrop of market turbulence caused by the collapses of the Terra ecosystem and the FTX exchange May 12 and November 10, there were short-term deviations in the USDT peg to the US dollar. The discount reached 2.3 and 4.4 cents, respectively.

Representatives of the exchange stressed that stability and trust are currently paramount for clients. They are achieved through confidence in the reserves backing the stablecoins.

USDC is 100% backed by cash and short-term U.S. Treasuries held in regulated financial institutions in the United States, the statement says.

Coinbase, together with Circle via the Centre consortium, is the issuer of the stablecoin.

The USDC Coin, with a market capitalization of $42.8 billion, ranks second in the stablecoins category after Tether at $65.7 billion, according to CoinGecko. The daily trading volumes stand at $1.96 billion and $28 billion, respectively.

Earlier, The Wall Street Journal pointed to growing lending volumes of Tether in USDT without proper disclosure of relevant information. The issuer of the stablecoin called the article “hypocrisy”.

In August, the outlet published a similar article. Its authors claimed there was “technical insolvency” of USDT when assets fell by 0.3%.

On August 19, the world’s fifth-largest auditor, BDO Italia, confirmed the backing of the stablecoin.

As reported, in October the U.S. Department of Justice reopened an investigation into possible bank fraud by Tether executives, according to Bloomberg.

In September, the issuer of the latter, Binance, proposed the conversion of USDC, USDP and TUSD into BUSD. The platform’s representatives also noted that they may in the future change the list of stablecoins subject to auto-conversion.

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