Binance USD (BUSD) has suffered a significant loss of about 43% of its market cap value in the last 3 weeks following a regulatory crackdown by U.S. authorities. BUSD is a popular token issued by the Paxos Trust Company, and it serves as the native stablecoin of the Binance exchange.
On Feb. 13, 2023, news broke out on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issuing a Wells Notice to Paxos stating its ongoing deliberation to file a lawsuit against the blockchain infrastructure company on the basis of potential violations of investor protection laws.
According to the SEC, Paxos is found wanting for issuing the BUSD token, which the commission considers an unregistered security and that it should be registered under the federal securities law.
A day after the news of the SEC’s potential lawsuit against the company, the New York District of Financial Services (NYDFS) issued a statement directing Paxos to stop the issuance of Binance USD, leading to a significant fall in the token’s circulating supply and its market cap value.
Data from Coingecko shows the total market share value of BUSD has declined from around $16.13 billion in the second week of February to its current value of $9.63 billion.
BUSD total market cap falls to $10 billion | Source: BUSD Total Market Cap on TradingView.com
This devastating decline has led to the stablecoin falling to 10th place among the largest cryptocurrencies by market cap, with Dogecoin (DOGE), Cardano (ADA), and Polygon (MATIC) all getting ahead. However, for all its troubles, BUSD still remains the world’s third-largest stablecoin.
Potential Lawsuit Causes Panic Among BUSD Whales While USDT Gains In Market Shares
Providing in-depth analytics on the liquidity status of the BUSD token, Santiment reports that the SEC’s possible lawsuit against Paxos has caused a market panic among investors with massive investments in Binance USD.
According to Santiment, there is an increased level of fear causing these stablecoin whales to fluctuate their holdings between BUSD and the market’s second biggest stablecoin – USDC
Source: Santiment
Meanwhile, Tether (USDT), the leader of the stablecoin market, appears to be benefiting from BUSD’s current regulatory troubles.
USDT’s market cap value has grown by over 4%, moving from $68.2 billion to its current value of $71.2 billion during the same time in which BUSD has suffered a decline.
Source: USDT Chart on Coingecko
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Binance USD Shares “Similar” Troubles With The Rest Of The Market
While BUSD faces its battles, the crypto market is also experiencing a general price loss, which has resulted in the market’s total cap declining by 21.89% over the last seven days.
During this period, market leader Bitcoin (BTC) has lost 6.7% of its value, with Ethereum (ETH) also recording a price fall of about 5.2%. Meanwhile, other major assets, such as Binance coin (BNB), Ripple (XRP), and Cardano (ADA), are also suffering losses of 6.3%, 5.3%, and 11.8%, respectively.
For now, these price falls are widely interpreted as a general price correction. However, there are growing concerns among investors, especially due to the severe crash of the market shares of the popular crypto-friendly bank, Silvergate.