Crypto Exchange Coinbase Asks Users to Switch USDT for USDC

Coinbase is waiving the conversion fees for users who wish to switch to a "trusted stablecoin" in a new campaign that highlights the quality of reserves that back Circle-owned USD coin (USDC).

"The events of the past few weeks have put some stablecoins to the test and we’ve seen a flight to safety," Coinbase said in blog post published Friday morning Asia time. "We believe that USD coin (USDC) is a trusted and reputable stablecoin."

Coinbase said starting today it's waiving fees for global retail customers to convert tether (USDT) to USDC.

Coinbase is a co-founder of USDC.

On-chain data shows that USDT is the third-most widely traded digital asset on Coinbase, representing 5% of the volume on the exchange, where it currently trades for 99 cents.

Days after the FTX collapse, USDT was knocked off its peg and traded as low as 93 cents. The majority of trading pairs on exchanges have returned to $1, though CoinGecko data shows that USDT continues to trade at 99 cents on some pairs at Binance.

In late September, the issuing company, Tether, was ordered by a federal court judge in New York to produce financial records relating to the backing of USDT. This is separate from the lawsuit before the New York Supreme Court (where CoinDesk is a party to the proceedings) that's asking for the New York Attorney General to release documents it gathered in its investigation into Tether’s reserves.

Recently, Binance has stopped supporting USDC, auto-converting customer holdings into its own stablecoin BUSD.