TrueUSD's Bitcoin Trading Volume Nears Tether’s on Binance but Traders Hesitate to Use the Token

The trueUSD (TUSD) stablecoin’s market share in bitcoin (BTC) trading volume on Binance is catching up to Tether’s USDT following the exchange’s zero fee trading discount, but data shows traders are still reluctant to use TUSD, according to crypto data firm Kaiko.

Between Binance’s BTC-TUSD and BTC-USDT trading pairs, TUSD’s market share rose to 49%, almost equalling tether's.

“This is a massive increase over just a few weeks,” Clara Medalie, head of research at Kaiko, said.

However, TUSD’s growth could not offset the rapid decline in the BTC-USDT pair’s trading volume after Binance waived its zero fee discount for tether, according to Kaiko data. Moreover, larger buy and sell orders are still placed for the USDT pair, per Kaiko.“This suggests that traders are still reluctant to use TUSD despite zero fees,” Medalie added.

TUSD’s rise has come as Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume, picked the token as heir of its preferred Binance USD (BUSD) stablecoin issued by Paxos Trust.

The exchange restored trading with TUSD after a six-month pause after Paxos’ decision to stop issuing BUSD and assigned its zero-fee trading discount to the BTC-TUSD pair and waived the promotion from BUSD and USDT starting on March 22.

The $132 billion stablecoin market is undergoing a major upheaval stemming from a regulatory crackdown and a banking crisis in the U.S. In February, the New York Department of Financial Services (NYFDS), the state’s top financial regulator, forced Paxos to cease minting BUSD, the third-largest stablecoin, with a $16 billion market cap. Last month, the collapse of crypto-friendly Silicon Valley Bank, reserve partner of the second-largest stablecoin, USDC, sent shockwaves through the market. In the aftermath, USDC suffered more than $10 billion in outflows.

Tether’s USDT and TUSD have emerged as clear winners of the crisis. TUSD has become the crypto market’s fifth-largest stablecoin, with a $2 billion market cap. USDT’s circulating supply has grown $10 billion in the past months and is closing in on its all-time high.

Stablecoins are a crucial element in the crypto ecosystem, facilitating trading on exchanges and serving as a bridge between government-issued fiat money and digital assets.

TUSD is a dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by crypto firm ArchBlock, previously known as TrustToken. Its value is fully backed by fiat assets, according to blockchain data provider ChainLink’s proof-of-reserve monitoring tool. In 2020, little-known Asian conglomerate Techteryx acquired TUSD’s intellectual property rights, TrustToken said at the time.