Coinbase, a prominent U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange platform, has announced to implement commission fees for substantial conversions from USD Coin (USDC) to US dollars. The charges will affect monthly volumes surpassing $75 million; however, Tier 1 and Tier 2 members of the Coinbase Exchange Liquidity Program will be exempted.
This new policy was disclosed on the Coinbase help page on January 30. The commission fees, effective from February 5, will be imposed on USDC to U.S dollar net conversions which exceed $75 million during a rolling 30-day period.
Customers can expect to pay a fee of 0.10% for a monthly volume between $75 and $150 million. For monthly volumes between $150 and $500 million, a 0.15% fee is applicable, and any volumes exceeding $500 million will have a 0.20% fee. All these fees will be deducted directly from the conversion amount of USDC to U.S. dollars.
The concept of net conversion, as defined by Coinbase, is calculated by deducting the aggregate volume of U.S. dollars to USDC conversions from the total conversions of USDC to U.S. dollars made over a 30-day period.
In other developments, stock analysts at JPMorgan downgraded Coinbase’s stock to an underweight rating on January 23, citing declining Bitcoin prices. By January 25, the value of the company’s stock fell to a monthly low of $121, an almost 20% drop since the start of January.
Despite these challenges, Coinbase continues to be a leading advocate of the U.S. crypto market. Recently, they rejected the U.S. Treasury Department’s proposal to intensify scrutiny on crypto mixers, naming it as “a waste of time”. In line with this, the company’s nonprofit advocate group, Stand with Crypto, has been actively monitoring the attitudes of U.S. lawmakers towards cryptocurrencies and reports that up to 18 senators are crypto-friendly.
Furthermore, Coinbase is also handling a legal dispute with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) who allege that the company has violated federal securities laws. However, industry analysts are optimistic that Coinbase has a 70% chance of the lawsuit being fully dismissed.