USDC and BUSD market caps fall as regulators bash stablecoins

Stablecoins such as USD Coin (USDC) and Binance USD (BUSD) see their market capitalization fall following increasing regulatory scrutiny.

Market data shows that BUSD’s market cap has fallen by 4.56% from $16.2 billion reported on Feb. 7 down to its current value of $15.46 billion — a low not seen since late January.

Similarly, USDC has seen its market cap fall from $41.85 down on Feb. 7 to its current value of $40.8 billion — a descent of 2.4%. This occurred after ethereum (ETH) blockchain data showed that on Feb. 10 $4,286 billion of USDC were burned and $4.434 billion were minted.

BUSD in particular has seen a steady decrease in its market cap over the last 24 hours after reports started circulating that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a Wells notice to BUSD issuer Paxos — intimating the company to stop issuing the stablecoin.

The news was soon followed by an increased Binance USD inflow to centralized exchanges as the company’s conflict with the SEC became more widely known among market participants.

While both USDC and BUSD have seen their market capitalizations shrink following the increasing regulatory scrutiny on stablecoins and their staking, USDT’s market cap increased instead.

USDT’s market cap increased from $68.2 billion a week ago to $68.5 billion as of press time — not a significant increase by any count, but definitely not a decrease.

The future of stablecoin staking in the United States is uncertain following the spread of rumors that the SEC might be looking to crack down on crypto staking.