Binance CEO Distances Himself From BUSD Stablecoin as Regulators Act

Binance Chief Executive Officer Changpeng Zhao distanced himself from the Binance-branded stablecoin BUSD after U.S. regulatory action caused minting to cease.

On Monday, BUSD issuer Paxos said it would stop minting new tokens following a request from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), but denied regulators’ claims the cryptocurrency, pegged to the value of the U.S. dollar, constituted an unregistered security.

“BUSD is not issued by Binance,” Zhao said during a Twitter Spaces on Tuesday. “We have an agreement to let them [Paxos] use our brand, but that's not something that we created.”

“With BUSD gone, BUSD slowly winding down over time, we will will continue to work with more stablecoin issuers or creators,” Zhao added, citing existing support for other stablecoins such as USD coin (USDC) and tether (USDT).

Zhao also hit out at claims, reported by Bloomberg, that rival stablecoin issuer Circle had sounded the alarm with NYDFS over concerns that Binance did not have enough reserves to back up BUSD tokens.

“I don't really believe Circle would do that – I don't think a professional industry peer will want to do that to another industry peer,” he said. “It just hurts the overall industry as we're seeing now ... I wouldn't take that article too seriously right now.”

Read more: Paxos ‘Categorically Disagrees’ With SEC That BUSD Is a Security, Says It Will Litigate if Needed