Binance resumes USDC withdrawals after hours of pause

Crypto exchange giant Binance has resumed withdrawals for the USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin after it “temporarily paused” the process for more than eight hours.

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In a statement, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) explained that the pause was due to the firm needing to swap between its own Binance USD stablecoin and USDC. However, the process required using fiat currency at a bank in New York, which wasn’t open at the time of the pause.

“The banks are not open for another few hours. We expect the situation will be restored when the banks open,” CZ said. He also plans to create more fluid swap channels in the future.

See also: Binance in talks to acquire Indonesian crypto exchange

After FTX’s fiasco, Binance is one of the few major crypto exchanges left in the world. It is one of the three biggest exchanges in terms of 24-hour transaction volumes alongside Coinbase and Kraken.

Last month, CZ said that the firm plans to expand its headcount from 7,400 people at that time to 8,000 people by the end of this year. Recently, it acquired Japan-based crypto firm Sakura Exchange Bitcoin and is in talks to acquire Indonesia-based exchange Tokocrypto.