Users can now freely trade ETH for US dollars or any of the three top stablecoins.
Binance US – the American branch of the world’s largest crypto exchange – has eliminated all Ether (ETH) spot trading fees just six months after doing the same for Bitcoin (BTC) pairs on the platform.
The zero-fee model will expand free trading to the platform’s ETH/USD, ETH/USDT, ETH/USDC, and ETH/BUSD pairs.
In a press release shared with CryptoPotato, Binance US revealed that it will be consolidating its pricing tiers into a single tier in January 2023. Tier I assets will feature the same pricing as Tier II assets, with the consolidated tier to be known as ‘Tier I’ from then onwards.
Binance US CEO Brian Shroder said the change is one of many at the company focused on “customer experience.” The exchange seeks to distinguish itself as one of the industry’s low-fee leaders, and to “restore trust in the greater ecosystem.”
“Now, more than ever, it is critical that platforms operate with users’ interests first,” stated the firm.
Both Binance and Binance US introduced zero-fee Bitcoin trading on the same USD and stablecoin pairs in June, shortly after industry competitors like Coinbase and Robinhood announced major job cuts.
Likewise, their Ethereum fee removal shortly follows the collapse of of FTX – Binance’s biggest rival from which the exchange seemingly absorbed hundreds of millions of dollars in withdrawal requests following a bank run in early November.
Binance CEO Champeng Zhao has made numerous statements in the aftermath of FTX’s bankruptcy highlighting Binance as a more attractive alternative. These include implementing Merkle Tree proof of reserves, and re-promoting Binance’s zero-fee Bitcoin model from June.
Though fees are a main source of revenue for companies like Binance, major exchanges are now taking profiting from staking services. Binance US announced ETH staking shortly before the Merge, with rates starting at 6% APY.