CRYPTOCURRENCY exchange Binance said on Monday (Mar 25) customers would no longer be able to deposit and withdraw the US dollar-pegged stablecoin USDC using the Tron blockchain network.

Stablecoins are digital tokens that are designed to keep a constant value and are backed by traditional currencies. A stablecoin can be based on various different blockchains.

Last month, Boston-based crypto firm Circle said it would no longer create its USDC tokens on the Tron blockchain, a decision it said “aligned with its efforts to ensure that USDC remained trusted, transparent and safe”.

Binance said it would end support for the stablecoin via the Tron blockchain from Apr 5 at 0200 GMT.

Users can continue trading USDC on Binance, while deposits and withdrawals of USDC via other supported networks will not be impacted, Binance said in a blog post.

Tron did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

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Tron founder Justin Sun, a prominent crypto entrepreneur, was sued last year by the US Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly artificially inflating trading volumes and selling Tron tokens as an unregistered security. Sun said the SEC charges “lack merit”.

With around US$32.1 billion in circulation, USDC is the eighth largest cryptocurrency and second-largest stablecoin, after Tether.

Most of the USDC in circulation is based on the Ethereum blockchain, according to Circle’s website. In February, before Circle ended support for Tron-based USDC, there was around US$335 million USDC hosted on Tron.

In November, Reuters reported, citing interviews with financial crime experts and blockchain investigation specialists, that Tron had overtaken Bitcoin as a platform for crypto transfers associated with groups designated as terror organisations by Israel, the US and other countries.

In response to that article, a Tron spokesperson said it did not have control over those using its technology, and that it was not linked to the groups identified by Israel. REUTERS