12-6-2023 (NEW YORK) Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, revealed its plan to swap 750 million tether-tron token pairs for tether-ether in a strategic move to maintain the stability and liquidity of the popular stablecoin.
The decision comes at a crucial time as Binance faces increased regulatory scrutiny and seeks to mitigate the impact of recent setbacks, including a lawsuit filed against the exchange by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
According to a tweet from Binance on Monday, the token swap will commence after 12 p.m. UTC and will be conducted directly with the tether team.
Tether, the leading stablecoin, is designed to maintain a 1:1 peg with the U.S. dollar. Tron, currently ranked ninth among cryptocurrencies, boasts a market value of $6.3 billion, while ether, second only to bitcoin, holds a market capitalization of $210 billion.
The SEC’s lawsuit against Binance, its CEO Changpeng Zhao, and Binance.US alleges a range of fraudulent activities, including the manipulation of trading volumes, diversion of customer funds, and deceptive control over the U.S. entity. Despite public claims of independence, the SEC asserts that Binance and Zhao were clandestinely directing its operations.
To compound matters, Binance announced on Thursday that it would suspend dollar withdrawal channels following the SEC’s request to freeze its assets. The fallout continued as Robinhood Markets, a prominent trading platform, promptly delisted three cryptocurrency tokens that the SEC had identified as securities in its lawsuit against Binance.
The SEC had previously charged the Tron Foundation and its founder, Justin Sun, with fraud in March, leading the U.S. arm of Binance to announce the removal of tron from its trading platform a month later.
