Binance, arguably the world’s largest and most popular cryptocurrency exchange, is adding several new coins to its trading desk. Among the new assets joining Binance include Ethereum Classic and the United States Dollar Coin (USDC), a stable currency backed by Coinbase. Previously, Binance had added both Cardano and Ontology to its system.
Is Binance Trying to Make Itself Look Better?
This comes in the wake of what has arguably been a very harsh year for the cryptocurrency exchange. Recently, the company found itself in hot water when a hacker – allegedly in control of facial photos, private data and other information surrounding many of the exchange’s customers – announced on Telegram that the company would see all withheld customer data released to the public if a heavy bitcoin ransom was not paid.
There is still speculation regarding whether the threat was valid or not. Binance ultimately issued a statement that placed in doubt whether the information at stake was, in fact, data pertaining to customers operating or trading through Binance.
However, this wasn’t the first attack centered on the trading platform to occur this year. Several months ago, the company experienced a heavy hit from hackers who potentially stole as much as $40 million in BTC units from its initial reserves. Customer funds seemingly remained unaffected for the most part, and Binance executives later claimed that it had enough to make up for the potential losses. They were, nevertheless, seriously disappointed by the attack.
This led to something of a crossroads for bitcoin enthusiasts. On the one hand, the world’s largest and most widely utilized cryptocurrency exchange had lost a big chunk of money. On the other hand, bitcoin – the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market cap – rose by over $1,000 within the next week, exhibiting a level of maturity that many traders and sellers had yet to witness.
This latest news leaves many analysts and industry experts wondering if the addition of new coins as of late is a means of Binance attempting to bring trust back to its trading platform. While it’s unclear what the motivations are, the company is now garnering a little more “eyeballing” from customers who seek to add more coins to their portfolios and potentially grow richer.
USDC Is Becoming a Solid Coin
They also have new trading pairs to look forward to, such as Litecoin and Ethereum classic against both bitcoin and Tether, an alleged stable coin that has also garnered its fair share of controversy over the years. Bitcoin will also trade against Coinbase’s USDC.
The currency was released late in 2018, with Coinbase and its “partner in crime” Circle (led by Jeremy Allaire) issuing approximately $1 billion-worth of USDC funds into the crypto arena. Thus far, approximately $600 million of those units have been converted back into traditional monies.
