Indian exchange WazirX follows Binance in delisting USDC

Major Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX has opted to delist the USD Coin (USDC) from its platform and convert the remaining balances into Binance-backed Binance USD (BUSD) stablecoin.

WazirX officially announced on Monday that it has stopped deposits of USDC alongside other stablecoins like Pax Dollar (USDP) and TrueUSD (TUSD).

According to the announcement, the platform will instead offer the BUSD stablecoin to enhance liquidity and capital efficiency for users. WazirX will implement BUSD auto-conversion for users' existing balances of USDC, USDP and TUSD at a 1:1 ratio on Oct. 5, the firm said.

“Users will be able to view their USDC, USDP and TUSD balances under the BUSD-denominated account balance when the conversion is complete,” the exchange noted. “WazirX may amend the list of stablecoins eligible for auto-conversion,” the announcement added.

Withdrawals of USDC, USDP, and TUSD will still be available on WazirX till Sept. 23. The platform then plans to delist the stablecoins from its spot trading pairs on Sept. 26.

According to data from CoinGecko, WazirX was trading an insignificant amount of USDC before the announcement. At the time of writing, the only USDC trading pair listed on WazirX is USDC trading against Tether (USDT), with $3,400 in daily volumes.

In contrast, BUSD has two trading pairs on WazirX, trading against the USDT stablecoin and the Indian rupee, with daily trading volumes amounting to $5,700 and $5,200, respectively.

WazirX did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.

Launched by the regulated fintech firm Circle and the Coinbase crypto exchange, USDC is the second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization following Tether USDT. At the time of writing, USDC’s market cap amounts to $50 billion, or down more than $17 billion from the rival stablecoin USDT. Binance USD, the third-largest stablecoin by value, has a market cap of $20.6 billion, according to CoinGecko.

The latest delisting of USDC from WazirX comes shortly after Binance announced plans to remove USDC as a tradable asset from its platform. Similarly to WazirX, Binance said that it will auto-convert USDC, USDP and TrueUSD balances into the BUSD stablecoin in order to expand liquidity.

In August, Binance denied any equity ownership in WazirX after the Indian crypto exchange came under regulatory scrutiny. India’s Directorate of Enforcement previously froze more than $8.1 million in funds on WazirX as part of an Anti-Money Laundering investigation against the firm.