Cryptocurrency spot and derivatives exchange OKX is rolling out new trading pairs for the dollar-pegged USDC, the second-largest stablecoin by market cap.
In a statement, the Seychelles-based exchange says it is going to introduce six new spot trading pairs for USDC on Monday.
“To support the growth of the USDC ecosystem and meet our users’ diverse trading needs, OKX is introducing the following USDC trading pairs in our spot trading between 9:00 am and 9:30 am UTC on October 14, 2024: AEVO-USDC, ATH-USDC, CATI-USDC, ETHFI-USDC, JUP-USDC, ZETA-USDC.”
OKX is bolstering its support for USDC amid a slightly weaker outlook for stablecoin issuers.
In a report published last month, index provider CCData says the stablecoin industry led by USDC, USDT, First Digital USD (FDUSD), PayPal USD (PYUSD) and TrueUSD (TUSD) will likely suffer losses after the Federal Reserve decided to slash interest rates for the first time since March 2020.
Interest payments from government bonds are a major revenue stream for the leading stablecoin issuers given that US Treasury Bills account for a significant portion of their reserves.
“With the top five centralized stablecoins holding combined US Treasury Bills of nearly $125bn, accounting for nearly 80.2% of their reserves, the recent Federal Reserve decision to cut interest rates for the first time since March 2020 is set to result in $625mn in lost annual interest income for each 50 bps (basis points) cut.
Based on their latest attestation reports, Tether holds nearly $93.2bn in US Treasury bills and repurchase agreements, which contributed to the majority of $5.2bn net profit in H1 2024. The second largest stablecoin, USDC holds $28.7bn worth of US Treasury bills via their Circle Reserve Fund, while FDUSD, PYUSD and TUSD hold US Treasury assets worth $1.83bn, $634mn, $502mn respectively.”
At time of writing, the market cap of top stablecoins is hovering at $172.636 billion.
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