Centralized
exchange trading volumes for the USDC/USDT stablecoin pair surged by 828% to
$6.1 billion on 11 March 2023, as investors sought to switch from USDC to other tokens after the fallout of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in which Circle,
the stablecoin issuer, held $3.3 billion of reserves.
According
to the newest market analysis published by CryptoCompare, the SVB collapse has lifted
the trading volume of the popular stablecoin, including decentralized
exchanges. CryptoCompare also reported an increase in USDC trading against the
US dollar.
SVB was
shut down by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation
on 10 March without any apparent reason for the sudden move. Reports suggest
that the bank was facing severe liquidity problems and was on the verge of
collapse. It emerged that the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, Circle, holds $3.3
billion (8%) of the funds backing the USDC in SVB.
The event
triggered a market panic, leading investors to sell off their USDC tokens and
switch to other commonly used stablecoins or the US dollar. Consequently, the
stablecoin’s value disconnected from its fixed exchange rate with the USD. At
its lowest point, USDC traded for only 88 cents during the Saturday session.
However, the situation stabilized on Monday, and the exchange rate has now
reached $0.9994.
USDC’s Peg Falls to an All-Time Low of $0.8726. Source: CryptoCompare
