币安为何将其全部 SAFU 基金转换为 USDC？

Author: By Ryan S. Gladwin Source: decrypt Translation: Shan-Ouba, Jinse Finance

The cryptocurrency exchange Binance has converted its entire Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) into USDC, the second largest stablecoin by market capitalization after Tether.

SAFU is an emergency insurance reserve designed to provide protection for investors using Binance. The fund is used to reimburse traders in the event of loss of investor assets on the exchange (such as due to a hack).

Normally, the fund's goal is to always maintain a value of over $1 billion. According to data from CoinGecko, it held Bitcoin (BTC) and Binance Coin (BNB) before the conversion, which declined by 12.6% and 9.1% respectively in the past 7 days. Therefore, in order to improve "reliability and stability," the cryptocurrency exchange decided to convert its entire balance into USDC.

"SAFU is an emergency insurance fund established in 2018 to protect Binance users in extreme cases," Binance stated in a blog post. "Over the years, we have been monitoring the size of SAFU and keeping the balance at a level sufficient to safeguard user rights."

Approximately $1 billion worth of BTC flowed out of the SAFU Bitcoin wallet, and over 740 million BNB flowed out of its Binance wallet. According to a blockchain explorer, both funds eventually ended up in the Binance hot wallet address. Now, it appears that only $1 billion remains in the SAFU Ethereum address.

"Over the years, we have been monitoring the size of SAFU and keeping the balance at a level sufficient to safeguard user rights," a Binance spokesperson told Decrypt. "Although it fluctuates, this level is usually set at $1 billion."

Cryptocurrency Twitter observers speculate that this move is more about Binance profiting rather than the fund's poor condition. Despite the recent sharp decline in Bitcoin, it is still much higher than its level at the beginning of the year.

Moving assets to stablecoins is a common strategy to enhance fund stability, as stablecoins are designed to maintain the value of fiat currencies. However, it is worth noting that Binance chose Circle's USDC instead of Tether's USDT, which currently has the largest market capitalization of over $76 million among stablecoins.

In the blog post, Binance justifies this decision by emphasizing that USDC is a "trusted, audited, and transparent stablecoin." Tether has always been controversial, with critics claiming that the stablecoin is not truly backed by actual dollars - which is believed to be the reason why it occasionally loses its peg to the US dollar.