Leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance has announced it will start converting existing user balances and new deposits of USD Coin (USDC), Pax Dollar (USDP), and True USD (TUSD) into its own stablecoin Binance USD (BUSD).

Ethereum Classic (ETC) has seen its hashrate hit a new all-time high of 45 terahashes per second (TH/s) after growing more than 480% year-to-date ahead of Ethereum’s upcoming Merge upgrade.

One of the largest Bitcoin mining pools by hashrate, Poolin, has announced it’s temporarily halting Bitcoin and Ether withdrawals from its wallet service due to “liquidity problems.”

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• Binance to Convert Users’ USDC Into Own Stablecoin
• Ethereum Classic (ETC) Hashrate Hits New High Ahead of The Merge
• Crypto Miner Poolin Halts BTC and ETH Withdrawals
• Chart of the Week: GBTC Discount

Binance to Convert Users’ USDC Into Own Stablecoin

Leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance has announced it will start converting existing user balances and new deposits of USD Coin (USDC), Pax Dollar (USDP), and True USD (TUSD) into its own stablecoin Binance USD (BUSD).

The conversion is scheduled to begin on September 29 and essentially means Binance will stop supporting several major stablecoins, including the second-largest, USDC. It’s issued by Circle Financial and has a market cap of nearly $51.8 billion, behind only Tether’s $67.5 billion market cap when it comes to stablecoins.

The move, according to Binance, is intended to “enhance liquidity and capital-efficiency for users.” The exchange will also remove and stop trading on spot pairs involving USDC, USDP, and TUSD.

Binance has seemingly been going after rival cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase over the last few weeks, after undercutting it on fees. Coinbase is part of the Centre Consortium, which backs USDC.

Ethereum Classic (ETC) Hashrate Hits New High Ahead of The Merge

Ethereum Classic (ETC) has seen its hashrate hit a new all-time high of 45 terahashes per second (TH/s) after growing more than 480% year-to-date ahead of Ethereum’s upcoming Merge upgrade.

Ethereum Classic’s hashrate most likely grew  because the Merge describes the Ethereum (ETH) network’s current mainnet merging with the Beacon Chain’s Proof-of-Stake system, marking a move away from its current Proof-of-Work system.

The event is planned for mid-September and will essentially force miners out of the network. Mining operations have spent billions on equipment to mine Ethereum and compatible cryptocurrencies over the year, meaning they are likely turning to Ethereum Classic as an alternative.

AntPool, a mining pool operated by mining giant Bitmain, signaled support for Ethereum Classic back in July, making a $10 million investment in its ecosystem at the time. Another mining pool, BTC.com, also launched support for ETC this week.

Crypto Miner Poolin Halts BTC and ETH Withdrawals

One of the largest Bitcoin mining pools by hashrate, Poolin, has announced it’s temporarily halting Bitcoin and Ether withdrawals from its wallet service due to “liquidity problems.”

In an announcement, Pooling said that its wallet service was facing problems due to “recent increasing demands on withdrawals,” and as such, it would temporarily halt payouts on the top two cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.

On its Telegram channel, Poolin told users it was “hard to name a specific date” in which it would resume withdrawals, but hinted the halt would last days. Poolin assured “all user assets are safe and the company’s net worth is positive,” and wrote in an announcement:

“We will make a snapshot of the remaining BTC and ETH balances on pool on September 6th to work out the balances. The daily mined coins after September 6th will be normally paid out per day. Other coins are not affected.”

Over the last 12 months, the China-based mining pool was responsible for mining roughly 10.8% of the BTC blocks found over the past 12 months, making it the fourth-largest mining pool on the network.

Chart of the Week: GBTC Discount

In this week’s Chart of the Week we’re looking at the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) discount and GBTC’s implied BTC price compared to the spot Bitcoin price.

Unlike exchange-traded funds (ETFs), Grayscale’s Investment Trusts currently do not offer redemption opportunities, which allow them to trade at prolonged premiums and discounts.

GBTC has traded at a discount larger than 30% since the end of July. Bitcoin’s spot price is back to lows seen in June’s bear market, which indicates large losses for current investors when using the GBTC implied BTC price.

State of the Crypto by Top Tier Exchange Volume

Build your project with CoinDesk Data

Terms | Privacy

13 Charles II St, SW1Y 4QU

London, UK

This email may include advertisements by third parties. None of the advertised or promoted products and services have been verified or approved by us and this email is not any endorsement by us of the third party or of their products or services.