Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, said Tuesday it is pausing withdrawals of the stablecoin USDCUSDC -0.2% while it completes a token swap involving the asset.
Withdrawals in other tokens tied to the value of the dollar–specifically tether and BUSDBUSD -0.2%, a stablecoin developed by Binance and blockchain-focused firm Paxos–are unaffected.
Changpeng Zhao, Binance’s chief executive, added in a Twitter post: “On USDC, we have seen an increase in withdrawals. However, the channel to swap from PAX/BUSD to USDC requires going through a bank in New York in USD. The banks are not open for another few hours. We expect the situation will be restored when the banks open.”
According to blockchain analytics firm Nansen, Binance has experienced the highest daily amount of withdrawals since June. Net outflows hit $3 billion in the past 24 hours. Nansen analyst Andrew Thurman tweeted that Jump Trading, one of the largest crypto market makers, was among the biggest redeemers.