By
Temitope Olatunji
April 26th, 2024
Binance’s decision to use emerging market currencies as a way to boost crypto trading on its platform could prove to be a worthy gamble.
Top cryptocurrency exchange Binance has extended its zero-fee trading promotion to three more spot trading pairs. This follows its earlier decision to do the same with trading with off-shore stablecoins TrueUSD (TUSD) and First Digital’s FDUSD.
According to a Thursday blog post, users of the platform may now trade Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Tether’s USDT stablecoin with the Argentine peso, Brazilian real and South African rand. That is on the spot market. And in addition, they can do so without having to pay any maker fees.
The post also shares that the zero-fee regime for the three spot trading pairs goes into effect immediately. That is, from Friday, September 8. Part of the announcement reads:
“The promotion will cover the following eight spot trading pairs: BTC/ARS, USDT/ARS, BTC/BRL, ETH/BRL, USDT/BRL, BTC/ZAR, ETH/ZAR and USDT/ZAR.”
Binance Seeks to Boost BTC, ETH Trading amid Regulatory Pressure
Meanwhile, it is worth noting that the exchange’s action might be directly linked to the recent regulatory challenges it has been facing in both the US and Europe. As it were, the pressure from regulators has seen trading volumes on the exchange hitting low levels not seen since 2019. And as a result, there has been a significant drop in revenue for Binance as well.
Amid the scrutiny from all sides, Binance has also had to take some drastic steps. For instance, Coinspeaker reported last month that it shut down its buy-and-sell service Connect. Though Binance claimed that the decision was to allow it to focus on its main products, the exchange also stopped issuing branded debit cards in the Middle East and Latin America regions.
Interestingly, Binance’s decision to use emerging market currencies as a way to boost crypto trading on its platform could prove to be a worthy gamble. After all, a Chainalysis report recently submitted that developing countries are at the forefront of crypto adoption.
In all fairness, that would be understandable. And that’s because the financial systems of many of the so-called developing countries – including Argentina – are nothing to write home about. For this reason, residents of these places continue to look to digital assets as a store of value or to hedge against volatility in their local currencies.