The recent crisis surrounding Circle’s USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin may have inadvertently boosted Bitcoin, according to analysis by Twitter user Byzantine General.
Analysis shows that people have resorted to buying Bitcoin and shorting the cross 1x inverse currency for synthetic dollars, which has resulted in extreme negative funding because so many people are doing it. According to Byzantine General, this trend could spur an uptick in the flagship crypto.
Some members of the cryptocurrency community are skeptical of Byzantine General’s analysis, arguing that the current rate is largely driven by panic buying and spot purchases of people pulling USDC. They claim that there is no growth in open interest and trading volume does not appear to be an outlier. However, other members of the community saw value in the Byzantine Generals analysis, suggesting that a collapse in USDC could lead to a switch to Bitcoin.
USDC, a key component of the cryptocurrency market designed to maintain a stable $1 value backed by cash and short-term Treasuries, fell below its expected $1-$1 peg after its links to the failed Silicon Valley bank were revealed exchange rate.
About $3.3 billion in USDC reserves tied to the bank saw its value plummet to 81.5 cents. Other minor stablecoins such as DAI and Pax Dollar have also broken their pegs, indicating a sense of broader anxiety.
With USDC falling below $1 amid uncertainty over deposit returns, concerns have spread over the wider impact of the Silicon Valley bank failure. However, despite previous reviews of its reserves, the stablecoin Tether has so far held steady at $1.
Meanwhile, bitcoin has been largely unscathed by the USDC crisis, which some cryptocurrency analysts say may actually be a blessing in disguise for the king of cryptocurrencies as it drives investors toward more established and stable cryptocurrencies.
While the impact of the USDC crisis is not yet fully understood, some cryptocurrency experts believe that the crisis could have a positive impact on the value of Bitcoin. The Byzantine General’s analysis, while not universally accepted, offers an interesting perspective on the potential consequences of the USDC crisis.