Digital Anchoration, a crypto goalkeeper and a federal charter bank, said that she would start to delete and say institutional customers to convert USDC
and other stablecoins in a world dollar of rival token (USDG) In a radical decision that has aroused criticism from industry players.
The company has published a “Stablecoin safety matrix” which ranks stablescoins on Tuesday according to regulatory monitoring and the management of reserve assets.
The USDC issued by the circle, which is the second largest stablecoin with a supply of $ 61 billion and is popular among the institutions, was no longer deemed adapted in the context of anchorage safety. Two other smaller tokens, Agora Usd (Ausd) And usual USD (USD0)were also provided for withdrawal. Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies with their prices related to an external asset, mainly to the US dollar.
“Following our Stablecoin security matrix, USDC, AUSD and USD0 no longer meet the internal digital anchorage criteria for long -term resilience,” said Rachel Anderika, responsible for global operations in Anchorage, in a statement justifying the decision. “More specifically, we have identified risks of high concentration associated with their issuing structures – which we think that institutions should assess carefully.”
“Digital anchorage focuses on the management of stablecoins which demonstrate strong transparency, independence, security and alignment to future regulatory expectations,” she added.
The stablecoin race is heated
This decision occurred at a time when competition in the Stablescoin market is heated with world banks, payment companies and crypto companies that jockeying for the position in the rapidly growing sector.
The American Senate recently adopted the Act on Engineering which aims to adopt clear rules for the asset class and the issuers, which could open the doors for a wider adoption. Friday, the White House crypto, Tsar David Sacks, suggested that the bill could become law next month, pending adoption in the House of Representatives.
Citi and Standard Chartered Reports reports have projected that the asset class goes from $ 250 billion current dollars to billions of billions in the coming years. Circle (CRCL)The company behind the USDC token, has recently become public and has skyrocketed in evaluation.
Anchorage gave the USDC a score of 2 out of 5 for regulatory monitoring and reserves management. The report indicates that there was “no substantial prudential monitoring” and that this circle had a large – around 15% – an amount of its reserves held in cash in banks. In particular, the USDC temporarily disturbed in March 2023 when the partner Bank Silicon Valley Bank suffered. The USDT of Tether, the largest stable in the world, had a higher note with anchorage pointing towards its regulation in Salvador.
The S&P notes evaluated the USDC “Strong”, its second best note in its evaluation of stable stability. Bluechip, a crypto-native Stablecoin notation company, gave the USDC a B + note in its economic security rating.
Industry leaders repel
The anchorage decision encountered a fierce decline.
Nick Van Eck, whose company Agora issues Ausd, accused anchoration of distorting facts on its stablecoin and not to disclose its commercial interest in the world dollar. The USDG is issued by Paxos and is supported by a consortium of companies that share the reserve assets that support the token. Anchorage is a founding partner in this consortium.
“If anchorage had just brought the USDC and the AUSD to prioritize the stablescoins for which they have an economic interest, I would understand it as a commercial decision,” he said in a post. “But trying to delegitimize the AUSD and the USDC for” security problems “, while knowingly publishing false information, is not serious and bizarre.”
“Never seen such an obvious successful play to be so poorly executed,” said Viktor Bunin, a protocol specialist at Digital Asset Exchange Coinbase. Coinbase jointly launched USDC with Circle in 2018 and shared reserve assets supporting the token.
Jan Van Eck, father of Nick Van Eck and CEO of the Director of Assets Van Eck, who manages AUSD support assets, has also questioned the risk assessment.
“If you need a laugh, consult this” security “matrix before anchoring drops it. According to the matrix, the Circle’s USDC (Second largest stablecoin in the world) and ausd (100% supported by treasury bills) Having reserve problems “, he posted on X.” Oh, and by the way, the AUSD reserve director is regulated by a wave of different regulators. “”
Circle, in a press release sent to Coindesk, defended the company’s “long -standing compliance record” and the “strong reputation as a leader in industry”.
“We comply with the US regulatory standards in force which apply to the main fintech and payment companies, and we have been the first stablecoin issuer to fully comply with the historic law of historical cryptography of the European Union,” said a spokesperson for Circle. “The USDC is 100% supported by fiatal reserves and has a robust primary liquidity thanks to a well -developed network of banks, representing what we consider as the highest transparency, safety and resilience levels in our industry.”
The support came for Circle and Agora outside the two stable camps.
“For the record, Bitgo does not give up the support of the USDC,” said Chen Fang, director of income for the Crypto Bitgo goalkeeper.
“Agora and Circle are long-standing partners, and our customers are counting on safe and transparent rails for the USD colony,” said Joshua Lim, co-responsible for the Crypto Prime Falconx markets, adding that its business “is ready to support customers using AUSD and USDC”.
