In Focus/Stablecoins
From USDT and USDC to bank and sovereign coins: issuance, licensing and flows.
Binance said the zero-knowledge proof for its Oct. 31 reserve snapshot is ready a day ahead of its Nov. 3 target, letting users check that 10 assets, including BTC, ETH, USDT, USDC and XRP, are backed at least one-to-one. The exchange says it has replaced about 95% of the stolen funds from its own money; the rest sits in thinner tokens outside those 10. A broader snapshot follows on Nov. 4, with its proof expected to take another 40 to 50 hours. Source: The Block
Circle said it has frozen more than $1.1 billion in USDC connected to last week's Binance theft, up from the roughly $823 million it locked in the attacker's wallet within minutes of the hack. The company has not explained the gap between the two figures. Bitcoin and ether, which no issuer can freeze, make up an estimated $2.4 billion of the stolen funds, according to TRM Labs. Source: American Banker
After Tether froze 378.7 million USDT, the attackers still had about $249 million to work with on Tron, and roughly $242 million of it moved out through Relay, THORChain, Chainflip and other services within two days, according to on-chain analyst SomaXBT. Elliptic estimates about $3.3 billion of the loot sits in assets no issuer can freeze, including 18,270 BTC that has not left the 19 bitcoin addresses named by the FBI. Source: The Block
A Binance proof-of-reserves snapshot taken at 00:00 UTC on Oct. 31 shows customer balances in BTC, ETH, USDT, BNB, SOL, USDC, XRP, USD1, RLUSD and ZEC fully covered, the exchange said. A complete zero-knowledge proof is now expected by Tuesday, Nov. 3, a day later than the Nov. 2 date given earlier. Binance has also promised a detailed incident report once its investigation ends. Source: crypto.news
Binance restarted withdrawals on Sunday in a first phase that began with the bitcoin network shortly after 06:00 UTC, followed by ether, BNB and some USDT and USDC routes, across 15 networks in total. The exchange said it has now bought back about 95% of the roughly $6.3 billion taken in last week's hack, up from 90% a day earlier, with the rest made up of less liquid tokens. No date has been set for the second phase, and deposits stayed open throughout. Source: Reuters via Business Standard
Binance said Saturday it has replaced 90% of the roughly $6.3 billion taken from its hot wallet, up from about 80% a day earlier, with its ten most-held assets, including BTC, ETH, USDT and USDC, now fully covered. The exchange still plans to reopen withdrawals token by token on Sunday, Nov. 1, while a full zero-knowledge proof of reserves is expected around Nov. 3 UTC. Source: Cointelegraph
Coinbase carried out a one-time conversion on Oct. 30 of 14 stablecoins that lack MiCA authorization, among them USDT, PYUSD, USD1 and DAI, swapping remaining EEA retail balances into USDC or another supported asset at market rates. Tokens sent to Coinbase after the cutoff will not be credited; the exchange noted that MiCA's transition period for issuers ended July 1 without extension. Source: Unchained
Ripple used its Swell event on Oct. 27 to announce that Robinhood will bring the RLUSD stablecoin to its retail app later this year, use it on the XRP Ledger for institutional settlement and adopt Ripple Treasury for cash management. BNY's digital asset custody platform now holds XRP and RLUSD, and the two plan to let bank clients mint and redeem the token directly. RLUSD's market value is about $2.57 billion. Source: Cointelegraph
Coinbase will convert 14 stablecoins that lack MiCA authorization, including Tether's USDT, PayPal's PYUSD and World Liberty Financial's USD1, for retail customers in the European Economic Area once an Oct. 30 deadline passes. Remaining balances will generally be switched into USDC, and trading in the affected tokens is already blocked. The move comes ahead of the Jan. 8, 2027 outer limit set by an Oct. 8 ESMA opinion. Source: CryptoSlate
