What is USDC?
USDC, also known as USD Coin, is a stablecoin that was founded in September 2018 by Circle Internet Finance, LLC, a regulated fintech company, in collaboration with members of Coinbase Global Inc., and Bitmain Technologies Ltd. Together they formed Centre Consortium, LLC, to establish governance and standards for the future of the digital financial ecosystem.
USDC is fully backed by an equivalent amount of US dollar-denominated assets, including cash and short-term US Treasury securities. Circle maintains these asset reserves in segregated accounts that are distinct from its business funds and held under the custody of leading institutions within the U.S.-regulated banking system, including BlackRock, Inc. and The Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon).
Circle publishes monthly reports attesting to the value of their reserves, confirmed by the audit provider Grant Thornton LLP. By maintaining these reserves, USDC is fully collateralized, which ensures that users can always exchange their USDC tokens for US dollars at a 1:1 ratio. Using blockchain technology, USDC allows for fast, safe, international money transfers that can be sent, received, and stored by anyone with an internet connection, with low transaction fees and the ability to facilitate instant cash flow. USDC also provides liquidity to global crypto capital markets, enabling a range of financial activities such as trading, lending, borrowing, and fundraising.
USDC is designed to be interoperable with multiple blockchain networks, which increases its versatility and accessibility to users. Businesses can open a Circle Account to exchange U.S. dollars for USDC. When a business deposits USD into their Circle Account, Circle issues the equivalent amount of USDC to the business in a process known as “minting”. Minting creates new USDC to be released into circulation. Similarly, when a business wants to exchange their USDC for U.S. dollars, the business can deposit USDC into their Circle Account and request to receive U.S. dollars with no additional fees. The process of redeeming USDC is known as “burning” and removes the redeemed USDC from circulation. In addition to their USD stablecoin USDC, Circle has also introduced Euro Coin, a Euro-backed stablecoin redeemable 1:1 for Euros. Circle plans to make Euro Coin available on multiple blockchains to promote broad ecosystem support and interoperability.
Circle and CYBAVO have collaborated to offer customers Circle Web3 Services, a suite of development tools designed to simplify the creation and management of blockchain applications. These services include secure and direct custody of digital assets, wallet infrastructure programing, integration with blockchain ecosystems, multi-chain wallet app building, and issuing and accepting identity credentials. Additionally, Circle Web3 Services offers a Contract-CLI to simplify smart contract development, testing, and deployment. These tools enable customers to build blockchain applications at scale while offloading infrastructure costs and mitigating security risks.
