What is USD Coin?
USD Coin is a cryptocurrency that relies on the US dollar for its value, referred to as a stablecoin. It can be exchanged anytime and anywhere for real US dollars in a 1:1 ratio. Since a reserve asset backs it, the price of the USD Coin will always remain stable – price charts confirm this fact: it doesn’t fluctuate nearly as much as other cryptocurrencies.
While it may be similar in value to the US government-backed dollar, it has its fair share of differences. For starters, it lives on the internet, so all you need to denominate transactions in it is an internet connection and your mobile phone. Since it’s all digital, you won’t need a bank account to store USDC coins.
The various blockchains on which USD coins run currently include the Ethereum, Hedera Hashgraph, TRON, Avalanche, Solana, Algorand, and Stellar ecosystems.
Who Founded USD Coin?
USD Coin is the product of an initiative launched by Circle and Coinbase Global: The Centre Consortium. While the stablecoin made its first appearance in September 2018, by October 2018, the circulating supply of the stablecoin had reached approximately 127 million.
The circle is a global financial technology company that seeks to move money from one wallet to another in record time – eliminating the problems posed by the geographical location of the parties, banking hours, processing times, and even the costly fees. Whereas Coinbase Global Inc. (COIN: NASDAQ) is a cryptocurrency exchange with over 170 cryptocurrencies listed on its platform.
A partnership of the two firms above resulted in the Centre Consortium, whose team of developers is responsible for the entire technology and governing structure of the USD coin. Its official website has made it clear that its mission is to set the stage for future digital financial transactions by introducing a system of governance and standards that prioritize customer fund security and anonymity above all else.
What is the purpose of the USD Coin?
Many other cryptocurrencies ran on the idea that they would, in time, appreciate in value; however, the USD Coin’s primary purpose is to act as a digital dollar – whose value remains at par with the US dollar’s. It can be used as a medium to store value, just like keeping your money in a savings account at a bank.
The value of the stablecoin is meant to remain the same as the fiat currency it is pegged to, meaning that you don’t have to worry about your coins losing value over the years. This is especially helpful to those living under non-US dollar jurisdictions since it provides a safe way to protect their investments’ value during economic instability. All they have to do is convert their fiat money reserves into USDC.
Moreover, USD coins securely allow transactions across borders to take place and remove the hassle of currency conversions and even transaction times since they operate at internet speed.
How does USD Coin work
The USD coin maintains its 1:1 peg by storing an equivalent amount of US dollars in accounts at trustworthy financial institutions in the US. You simply send your dollars to the cryptocurrency exchange platform requesting to buy USDC. A smart contract, already in place, mints USDC equal value. The USDC is transferred to your wallet, and in return, the US dollars you sent them are put in a reserve for USDC. This way, there are always reserves backing the USDC floating around on the internet – and they don’t just appear from thin air.
Selling USDC in exchange for US dollars will trigger a reverse reaction. The equivalent amount in US dollars is transferred to you, and your USDC is burnt – meaning that it has been effectively erased from the network and can no longer be used for transactions or store value.
How to buy USD Coin
You can own USDC today with a few simple steps.
- Go to the official website: Open your browser, and look up Coinbase. Then click on the link leading you to their official homepage – https://www.coinbase.com/.
- Create an account: You will see an option to create an account or sign in to an existing one in the top right corner of the homepage. Click on that. Provide all the required details and create a password.
- Verify your email and phone number: You will receive an email from Coinbase at your provided email address, which will redirect you to their website. Then enter your phone number when asked, and enter the code they send to verify your phone number.
- Provide personal details: They will then ask you to provide more personal information, like your name, address, and date of birth, along with answers to a few questions.
- Upload verification documents: Sign in to your account and upload the relevant documents to verify your identity.
- Link a suitable payment method: The last step is to link a payment method. Please note that the list of acceptable payment methods may vary based on your country of residence.
USD Coin comparison
Below we’ve compared the USD Coin with other top-performing stablecoins: USDT, GUSD, and TUSD.
1. USDC vs. USDT
USDC has Coinbase Global Inc. and Circle to thank for its advent in late 2018. On the flip side, USDT was founded by Tether, a company based in Hong Kong, in 2014. USDT and USDC are stablecoins pegged to the US dollar in a 1:1 ratio.
However, USDT can run on blockchains, including Algorand, Avalanche, Ethereum, EOS, Liquid Network, Near, Omni, Polygon, Solana, Bitcoin Cash’s Standard Ledger Protocol, Statemine, Statemint, Tezos, and Tron. USDC coins can only be found on the Ethereum, Hedera Hashgraph, TRON, Avalanche, Solana, Algorand, and Stellar networks.
USDT has a live market capitalization of approximately $66 billion and an estimated 66 billion USDT coins in circulation. On the other hand, USDC – ranking just below USDT – has a live market capitalization of around $44 billion and a circulating supply of 44 billion USDC coins.
2. USDC vs. GUSD
The Gemini Trust Company, a cryptocurrency exchange platform, launched the stablecoin – GUSD – in 2018. USDC, too was launched in 2018 by an unexpected partnership between Coinbase Global Inc. and Circle. GUSD is another example of a stablecoin, just like USDC. However, unlike USDC, it only runs on the Ethereum network.
The GUSD coin has a live market capitalization of $599 million, while USDC boasts $44 billion. Following a similar trend, GUSD’s circulating supply of 607 million GUSD coins is lower than USDC’s 44 billion.
3. USDC vs. TUSD
TUSD is a stablecoin that came into existence because of the efforts of its parent company, TrustToken (a platform that is involved in the tokenization of real-world assets). Although USDC and TUSD founders are different, it is interesting to know that both were embarked on in 2018, albeit in separate months.
Another area where both stablecoins differ is the blockchains they run on. TUSD, being an ERC-20 token, runs on the Ethereum blockchain alone, whereas, as previously mentioned, USDC is available on many more networks than just the Ethereum network.
Recorded data highlights that TUSD’s live market capitalization at the time of writing averages around $753 million – considerably lower than USDC’s $44 billion figure. The circulating supply, too, is only 754 million TUSD coins.
Comparison Table of Cryptocurrencies
| USDC | USDT | GUSD | TUSD | |
| Founding Company | Coinbase Global Inc. Circle | Tether | The Gemini Trust Company | TrustToken |
| Market Capitalization (US$) | 44 billion | 66 billion | 599 million | 753 million |
| Amount in Circulation (respective coins) | 44 billion | 66 billion | 607 million | 754 million |
| Year Launched | 2018 | 2014 | 2018 | 2018 |
| Compatible networks | Ethereum, Hedera Hashgraph, TRON, Avalanche, Solana, Algorand, and Stellar | Algorand, Avalanche, Ethereum, EOS, Liquid Network, Near, Omni, Polygon, Solana, Bitcoin Cash’s Standard Ledger Protocol, Statemine, Statemint, Tezos, and Tron | Ethereum | Ethereum |
Is USDC safe?
USDC being a cryptocurrency, has its unique set of risks. However, features like increased transparency and low price volatility make it a relatively safer investment. Circle, the official issuance body of the USD Coin, is legally obligated to issue monthly reports on its USDC reserves.
The reserves are held in segregated accounts monitored by Grant Thornton LLP – which is also tasked with providing monthly attestation reports on the same. You can view the latest reports online too! This makes it so that anybody can plainly see that all the USDC tokens are backed by actual US dollar cash deposits or something similar.
We Coin-Labs provides only objective information about USD Coin.
Therefore, we are not responsible for the investment decision in USD Coin and the resulting loss.
USD Coin Basics
The primary characteristics of USD Coin are as follows.
| Cryptocurrency Features | USD Coin (USDC) |
|---|---|
| Publisher or Developers | Circle |
| Jurisdiction of Incorporation (Registration Number) | USA |
| Symbol | USDC |
| Platform | ETH |
| Published Date (CMC Registration) | 2018-10-08 |
| Max Supply | No limit |
Investment Suitability of USD Coin in 2023
The results of the USD Coin investment suitability evaluation conducted by Coin-Labs are as follows.
| Investment Suitability Rating Items | Scores and Current Status |
|---|---|
| Company Activation Rate | 9.1 / 10.0 CAR |
| Communication Rate | 8.9 / 10.0 CR |
| Technology Transparency Rate | 8.3 / 10.0 TTR |
| Development Participation Rate | 8.7 / 10.0 DPR |
| Listing Status on the Top 4 Exchanges in Korea | Listed on 1 Exchanges |
| Listing Status on the World's Top 10 Exchanges | Listed on 6 Exchanges |
| Number of Available Pairs Worldwide | 9,677 Pairs |
| Market Cap of the Cryptocurrency | 53,413,377,016,239 KRW (Rank #5) |
The table above shows the result of investment suitability evaluation for USD Coin.
More descriptions about the rating items can be found here.
USD Coin Price
The price and recent trading volume of USD Coin are as follows. (Data of 2023-01-27 16:20:24)
| Price Items | Price and Trading Volume of USD Coin |
|---|---|
| USD Coin Price | 1,231.608 KRW |
| Price Change 24h | 0.02% |
| Price Change 7d | -0.33% |
| Trading Volume 24h | 4,239,810,826,080 KRW |
| Trading Volume Change 24h | -14.26% |
Cryptocurrency Metadata
You can check the development status and social media information of USD Coin through the links in the table below.
| Metadata Source | URL |
|---|---|
| 🌎 Official Website | https://www.centre.io/usdc |
| 📖 White Paper | https://f.hubspotusercontent30.net/hubfs/9304636/PDF/centre-whitepaper.pdf |
| 🛰️ Source Code (GitHub) | https://github.com/centrehq/centre-tokens |
| 🎺 Message Board | https://medium.com/centre-blog |
Korean Crypto Exchanges where USD Coin is Listed
Korean crypto exchanges where USD Coin is listed in 2023 are as follows.
| Top4 Exchanges | Listed Status | Page URL |
|---|---|---|
| Upbit | Not listed | |
| Coinone | Not listed | |
| Korbit | Listed | https://lightning.korbit.co.kr/markets/?market=usdc-krw |
| Bithumb | Not listed |
World Crypto Exchanges where USD Coin is Listed
World crypto exchanges where USD Coin is listed in 2023 are as follows.
| Top10 Exchanges | Listed Status | Page URL |
|---|---|---|
| Binance | Not listed | |
| Huobi | Listed | https://www.huobi.com/en-us/exchange/usdc_usdt |
| Coinbase | Listed | https://pro.coinbase.com/trade/USDC-EUR |
| FTX | Not listed | |
| Kraken | Listed | https://trade.kraken.com/ko/charts/KRAKEN:USDC-USD |
| KuCoin | Listed | https://www.kucoin.com/trade/USDC-USDT |
| Bitfinex | Listed | https://trading.bitfinex.com/t/UDC:USD?type=exchange |
| Bithumb | Not listed | |
| Gate.io | Not listed | |
| Bitstamp | Listed | https://www.bitstamp.net/markets/usdc/usd/ |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the current price of USD Coin?
USD Coin price today is 1,231.608 KRW. Furthermore, the price of USD Coin has fluctuated by 0.02% from 24 hours ago, and by -0.33% from a week ago.
Where is USD Coin listed?
Currently, it is listed on a total of 1 among the 4 largest exchanges in Korea, and is listed on a total of 6 among the world top 10 exchanges.
What is the market cap of USD Coin now?
Currently, USD Coin has a market cap of 53,413,377,016,239 KRW, which is ranking 5 among cryptocurrencies worldwide.
How much is the trade volume of USD Coin?
Currently, 43,368,799,586 USDC coins are circulating through 9,677 market pairs. As a result, in the last 24 hours, 4,239,810,826,080 KRW of USDC coins were traded in the market.
