USDC Price (USDC)
USDC to USD
$1.01
Market Cap
$34B+
Volume (24h)
$993M+
Circulating supply
34B+
Resources
About USDC
US Dollar Coin, or USDC, is a stablecoin that is pegged to the value of the US dollar at a 1:1 relationship. In other words, the value of one USDC should always equal the value of one dollar, regardless of the fluctuations of either the price of USD or the price volatility of crypto markets.
Stablecoins serve several purposes. First, they provide a way for crypto traders and investors to have a place to keep digital value that is not subject to market volatility. This is important as the crypto space grows because it allows for a level of predictability within the digital asset space.
Second, stablecoins provide a way for new products and services to create cash-like digital payments and systems that reduce the volatility of other crypto assets. Merchants, restaurants, and small businesses, for example, might be more interested in accepting digital payments in a stablecoin with a fixed value relative to a fiat currency than they would a constantly fluctuating currency like bitcoin.
Third, stablecoins are designed to provide an easy to understand bridge between traditional money and digital money. Implemented correctly, they can act like an anchor or safe portal between systems and make moving between the two more seamless.
About Stablecoins
Stablecoins are a new kind of financial product. They behave like traditional fiat currencies in that their value is tied or pegged to a fiat currency, but they have the ease of use and settlement times of digital currencies.
One of the biggest reasons why stablecoins work - and why they are able to stay pegged to the value of a dollar (or other fiat currencies) - is that there is a reserve held on the backend. What that means is that the stablecoin is actually a representation of assets held in a reserve. So, for the stablecoin to work as planned, the reserves need to match the amount of the stablecoin in circulation.
So, the entity or financial institution holding the reserve backing the stablecoin is important. It’s also important that the stablecoin reserves are audited and maintained.
In the case of USDC, the reserve is managed by Coinbase and Circle, both U.S.-based companies with a long track record in the crypto space. USDC is a smart contract-based open source protocol that is supported or interoperates with Ethereum’s ERC-20 standard and many other blockchains. The USDC which Coinme offers is currently an ERC-20 token, operating on the Ethereum network.
A History Of Stablecoins
When stablecoins first began showing up on the scene a few years ago, they were met largely with a tepid reception. After all, there isn’t too much to get excited about - by design they don’t have the upward price action of some of the more popular cryptocurrencies. They also don’t inspire the same cult-like following of assets like bitcoin or ether.
While early stablecoins had utility for people moving between cryptocurrencies regularly, like traders for instance, they weren’t valued much beyond the role of a calm in the storm of crypto volatility.
But then a number of cryptocurrency and defi projects started offering new financial products on top of stablecoins - and more and more money started flooding into the stablecoin space. USDC and other stablecoine assets are often found in the top ten cryptocurrencies by market cap.
By 2021, financial regulators began to take notice of stablecoins and promising progress is being made to better understand how they will be regulated in the future.
