Coinbase Pauses Conversions Between USDC and U.S. Dollars as Banking Crisis Roils Crypto

Prolly nothing... but then I only hold Tether


https://www.coindesk.com/business/2...nd-us-dollars-as-banking-crisis-roils-crypto/

Coinbase Pauses Conversions Between USDC and U.S. Dollars as Banking Crisis Roils Crypto
Circle earlier confirmed it has $3.3 billion backing its USDC stablecoin parked at now-shuttered Silicon Valley Bank.
By Danny Nelson
AccessTimeIcon.svg
Mar 10, 2023 at 8:14 p.m. PST
Updated Mar 10, 2023 at 8:31 p.m. PST

Coinbase (COIN) hit the brakes on conversions between USDC stablecoin and US dollars late Friday as fallout from Silicon Valley Bank's (SIVB) collapse spread into the heart of crypto trading.

In a tweet, the crypto exchange said it was "temporarily pausing" the conversions while banks are closed over the weekend. The exchange said it planned to restart conversions on Monday.

The pause speaks to the chaos that's roiled the crypto industry's second-largest stablecoin in the wake of Silicon Valley Bank's demise on Friday. Speculating on the stability of USDC, traders redeemed $1.6 billion of USDC, lowering its total supply.

Late in the day, Circle confirmed that $3.3B of the $40B backing its stablecoin was on deposit at the now-shuttered lender. The fate of that cash is now uncertain, with Silicon Valley Bank having been seized by the FDIC, and USDC – for the moment – has lost its dollar peg.

"Circle is currently protecting USDC from a black swan failure in the U.S. banking system," tweeted Circle Chief Strategy Officer Dante Disparte late Friday night. "Silicon Valley Bank is a critical bank in the U.S. economy and its failure – without a Federal rescue plan – will have broader implications for business, banking and entrepreneurs."

"During periods of heightened activity, conversions rely on USD transfers from the banks that clear during normal banking hours," Coinbase said in its tweet announcing the conversion pause. "When banks open on Monday, we plan to re-commence conversions."
 
So who won the lucky jackpot on the other side? I don't know all the ins and outs of how cryptos are transferred but this sounds pretty shady, if not nightmarish. I thought crypto was about being able to transfer funds P2P trasparently. How could this have happened?

This is a user-error, I don't understand how anyone or any company can hold $2M worth of a complex liquidity pool token comprised of several tokens and try to swap it without examining which dex would execute the trade and what liquidity is available

This is so unbelievably stupid, I can't even imagine what's going on with the person that executed this trade

An MEV bot won the jackpot, automated smartcontract code
 
Last edited:
John I want to thank you!!! You were the one who explained to me potential USDC issue over a month ago. I just used it then to buy more ether. Glad I did it :D
 
This is a user-error, I don't understand how anyone or any company can hold $2M worth of a complex liquidity pool token comprised of several tokens and try to swap it without examining which dex would execute the trade and what liquidity is available

This is so unbelievably stupid, I can't even imagine what's going on with the person that executed this trade

An MEV bot won the jackpot, automated smartcontract code

They are probably being talked off the ledge - makes the case for hiring for or learning to program MEV bots.
 
Back
Top