The overall value of the cryptocurrency market has plunged to $1 trillion as a US regulator investigates the issuer of the Paxos stablecoin and the Binance USD stablecoin.
The New York Department of Financial Services has ordered Paxos to stop issuing BUSD tokens, the seventh-largest stablecoin by market capitalization, due to "several unresolved issues related to Paxos' oversight of its relationship with Binance through BUSD issued by Paxos".
A recent Wall Street Journal report also claimed that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) plans to sue Paxos for violating investor protection laws as a potential unregistered security.
Paxos will end its relationship with Binance and stop issuing new BUSD tokens starting February 21.
BUSD is wholly owned and managed by Paxos, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao confirmed on Twitter. Despite stating that user funds were safe, he added: โBinance will continue to support BUSD for the foreseeable future. We anticipate users migrating to other stablecoins over time."
Binance has seen a surge in withdrawals, according to blockchain intelligence platform Nansen, with net outflows of $788.5 million in a recent 24-hour period. Peckshield reported that 342 million BUSD was burned in just 24 hours.
Binance's reserves hold $14.4 billion worth of BUSD, around 90% of the stablecoin's market capitalization. BUSD accounts for 22% of Binance's total $60 billion reserves.
Free Valentine's NFTs for cryptocurrency lovers
Mintable, a Singapore-based NFT marketplace, offers up to 10 free and personalized NFTs to send as a gift for Valentine's Day.
Minted on the Ethereum blockchain, it says that no prior knowledge of NFTs or crypto wallets is necessary to send or receive them.
Zach Burks, founder and CEO, said his "mission is to make NFTs accessible to everyone on the planet."
He added: โLove should last forever, like an NFT on the blockchain.โ
cryptocurrency shorts
Microsoft is shutting down its industrial metaverse project due to the amount of investment required to start generating revenue from it, with 100 team members laid off.
Magic Eden is laying off 22 staff members as part of a restructuring process. Meanwhile, the Solana-based NFT marketplace has partnered with Web3 payment platform MoonPay to offer new payment options for purchasing digital collectibles, including credit or debit cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay.
Civil proceedings against former FTX chief executive Sam Bankman-Fried by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities Exchange Commission will be adjourned until after his criminal trial in October.
Ajuna Network has raised $5 million, led by CMCC Global, and announced the 'Awesome Ajuna Avatars' NFT game collection.
Reddit has added 4 million NFTs in two months, with 9 million now minted on Polygon with 6.3 million holders.
crypto prices
The overall market capitalization of the 22,500 coins is $1 trillion at the time of writing (7am UK), a decline of 1.1% in the last 24 hours.
For valuations of the top 100 coins by market capitalization in US dollars, plus 24-hour price change, see below.
