Anchorage Digital, a federally chartered bank that provides crypto custody services, has announced that it will be advising its institutional clients to divest from stablecoins such as USDC, Agora USD (AUSD), and Usual USD (USD0) and switch to Global Dollar (USDG) instead.
This decision brought about major debates in the crypto industry.
In support of this decision, Anchorage evaluated stablecoins according to criteria such as regulatory oversight and reserve asset management in its “Stablecoin Security Matrix” report.
“USDC, AUSD and USD0 no longer meet Anchorage Digital’s long-term durability criteria,” said Rachel Anderika, Head of Global Operations at Anchorage, in a statement, justifying this decision. Anderika said there is a risk of concentration in the issuance structures behind these assets and that this situation should be taken into account by institutional investors.
Anderika noted that Anchorage will now only support stablecoins that are “compliant with transparency, independence, security, and future regulatory expectations.”
The decision comes at a time when competition in the stablecoin market is rapidly increasing. The GENIUS Act, recently passed by the US Senate, aims to set clear rules for stablecoin issuers. White House crypto advisor David Sacks said the bill could become law in July if it passes the House of Representatives.
Anchorage gave USDC a score of 2 out of 5 in terms of regulatory oversight and reserve management. The report noted that Circle kept about 15% of its reserves in cash in banks, which posed a risk. As will be recalled, USDC briefly fell below $1 with the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in March 2023.
In contrast, S&P Ratings gave USDC a “strong” rating, while crypto-focused Bluechip firm gave USDC a B+ rating.
Anchorage’s decision has drawn backlash from key industry figures. AUSD issuer Nick Van Eck accused Anchorage of “spreading misinformation” and concealing its trading interests in the Global Dollar (USDG). USDG is issued by Paxos and backed by a consortium in which Anchorage is a partner.
“If this was just a business decision I could understand. However, trying to smear USDC and AUSD with false information is both frivolous and strange,” said Nick Van Eck.
Coinbase protocol expert Viktor Bunin called the decision a “poorly prepared smear campaign.” Coinbase, along with Circle, launched USDC in 2018.
*This is not investment advice.
