[danuker]

Yes, on a centralized entity you're required to trust ("we're totally backed by cash and bonds, for realsies"), as opposed to owning and holding your crypto outright.

From their web page:

> Transparent

> A top auditing firm will attest to the matching supply of BUSD tokens and underlying U.S. dollars on a monthly basis.

Note the future tense, as in, "sometime indefinitely away in the future".

Their attestations (as opposed to audits) just say that at a certain instant in time they had the required amount in a bank account. That means Paxos could have borrowed it for a short while. Quote [1]: "Any activity prior to or after the Report Dates and Times at 5:00 pm ET was not considered when testing the assertions described above."

This is the same trick pointed out by Coffeezilla about a year ago, about Tether. [2]

And the one from November is missing.

[1] - https://paxos.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Executed-BUSD-E...

[2] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-whuXHSL1Pg

[CTDOCodebases]

Yes this is the issue with attestations. They tell people how much you hold without telling them how much you owe.

For all anyone knows the assets held could be collateral for a large overdue loan.