The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) plans to sue Paxos for issuing and itemizing its Binance USD (BUSD) stablecoin, benefitting its top-rival, Tether (USDT), whose market capitalization has risen to multimonth highs.
BUSD market cap drops by $2 billion
The SEC claims that BUSD, a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin, is a safety, noting that Paxos has violated investor safety legal guidelines by white-labeling it.
Related: Paxos ‘categorically disagrees’ with the SEC that BUSD is a safety
Since Feb. 13, when the information broke, the BUSD market cap has misplaced roughly $2 billion, right down to round $14 billion as of Feb. 16 — the bottom since January 2022.
As Cointelegraph reported, Binance has seen its withdrawals and BUSD redemptions surge post-Paxos crackdown.
USD Coin market cap downtrend continues
At the identical time, USD Coin (USDC), the second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization, has additionally witnessed capital outflows in response to the SEC crackdown information. Its provide decreased from $41.29 billion on Feb. 12 to as little as $40.99 billion on Feb. 14.
However, this determine rebounded to $41.30 billion on Feb. 15 after Circle clarified that it had not acquired any lawsuit menace from the SEC.
.@circle has not acquired a Wells discover. https://t.co/lE74zHVLka
— Dante Disparte (@ddisparte) February 14, 2023
Despite current inflows, USDC’s market cap stays in a normal downtrend since its June 2022 peak of $56 billion — a 25% decline over the previous eight months.
Tether dominance jumps, market cap rises over $69 billion
The regulatory crackdown on U.S.-based stablecoin companies has been a boon for high stablecoin Tether, whose market cap has jumped over $69 billion.
69B
— Paolo Ardoino (@paoloardoino) February 14, 2023
Data exhibits that almost $890 million of inflows since Feb. 12 has pushed Tether’s market dominance to 51.25% as of Feb. 15.

The bounce probably means that traders have been spooked by the crackdown on BUSD and sought security in Tether USDT. Tether is owned by Hong Kong-based iFinex, which additionally owns the Bitfinex cryptocurrency change.
Related: USDT vs. USDC vs. BUSD: What are the similarities and variations?
Tether has repeatedly denied the accusations and gives common assurance opinions signed by third-party accounting corporations each quarter.

The newest report from Dec. 31, 2022, states that consolidated property amounted to no less than $67 billion, exceeding consolidated liabilities by no less than $960 million.
This article doesn’t include funding recommendation or suggestions. Every funding and buying and selling transfer includes danger, and readers ought to conduct their very own analysis when making a call.