USD Coin (USDC)

USD Coin, also known as USDC, is a stablecoin that is pegged to the U.S. dollar on a 1:1 basis. The stablecoin is designed to provide a safe haven for crypto traders during times of volatility and to facilitate cashless transactions in the digital age. USDC is issued by regulated financial institutions and is backed by a reserve of cash and short-term U.S. Treasury bonds.

The Centre consortium, which is behind USDC, was founded by Circle, a peer-to-peer payment services company, and Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange. Other crypto ventures are also able to join the consortium. The goal of the consortium is to create an ecosystem where USDC is accepted by as many wallets, exchanges, service providers, and dApps as possible.

Circle co-founders Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville state that the goal of USDC is to create an open internet of value exchange that can transform and integrate the world more deeply, eliminating artificial economic borders and enabling a more efficient and inclusive global marketplace that connects every person on the planet.

In 2020, Circle and Coinbase announced a major upgrade to USDC's protocol and smart contract, with the goal of making the stablecoin easier to use for everyday payments, commerce, and peer-to-peer transactions.

One of the ways that USD Coin aims to stand out from its competitors is through transparency. The Centre Consortium states that a major accounting firm is tasked with verifying the levels of cash that are held in reserve and ensuring that this matches up with the number of tokens in circulation, giving users the assurance that they will be able to withdraw 1 USDC and receive $1 in return without any issues.