Binance converts assets of its SAFU insurance fund into Circle’s USDC

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Binance, the cryptocurrency exchange with a billion-dollar insurance fund (SAFU), has announced a significant change: all assets in the fund will now be converted into USDC stablecoins.

Binance recently made an unexpected decision to transfer all the funds, approximately $1 billion, from its emergency insurance fund (SAFU) into Circle’s stablecoin, USD Coin (USDC). The motivation behind this move is currently unknown. However, according to Binance’s blog post on April 18th, their intention is to effectively respond to market conditions by moving all of SAFU’s assets into USDC.

Binance asserts that integrating USDC into SAFU will boost its dependability, maintaining it at the $1 billion threshold. By employing a “verified, examined, and transparent” stablecoin like USDC for SAFU, Binance believes this improvement will strengthen the fund’s trustworthiness.

Founded in 2018, the SAFU fund originally held cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Tether (USDT), TrueUSD (TUSD), and Binance Coin (BNB). This announcement comes after the selection of Richard Teng as Binance’s new CEO, replacing Changpeng Zhao, in line with an arrangement with the U.S. Department of Justice.

Besides the SAFU restructuring, Binance has recently named its first board of directors. This seven-member board is headed by Gabriel Abed, a former ambassador of Barbados to the UAE. Notable board members include Richard Teng and founding team members Heina Chen, Jinkai He, and Lilian Wang.

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2024-04-18 10:17