Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of trading volume, has announced they will be listing Circle’s new stablecoin, USD Coin (USDC). The exchange will begin accepting deposits for USDC and facilitate trading for USDC/BTC and USDC/BNB on November 16.
According to Binance’s Medium post regarding the USDC listing, they estimate that USDC has exceeded $148 million in circulating supply and that the cryptocurrency is supported by over 50 exchanges, protocols, platforms, applications, and wallets.
Circle’s USDC is referred to as a “stablecoin” because it is pegged 1:1 to the US Dollar (USD). The coin is designed to protect its users from price volatility in the cryptocurrency markets by offering a stable asset to store wealth.
Not only can USDC customers transfer their wealth from volatile cryptocurrencies into USDC, but they can also convert their USD into USDC and vice versa.
As Binance said in their blog:
Customers can tokenize US dollars into USDC and redeem USDC into US dollars through both Circle and Coinbase.
Unlike Tether (USDT), the most popular stablecoin in the cryptocurrency market, USDC is issued by regulated and licensed financial institutions that maintain full reserves of the fiat currency backing USDC. The USD Coin reserves are regularly audited, and issuers of USDC must submit periodic reports of their USD reserve holdings.
Therefore, USDC appears to be a trusted stablecoin that is gaining momentum in the stablecoin market thanks to its upcoming Binance listing.
Although USDC is fully backed by regulated and licensed financial institutions, it is a centralized stablecoin which may turn the heads of some crypto aficionados. This means that the American fintech company behind it, Circle, has the ability to freeze user funds if they suspect suspicious or illegal activity.
As stated in Circle’s user agreement:
Circle reserves the right to ‘blacklist’ certain USDC addresses and freeze associated USDC (temporarily or permanently) that it determines, in its sole discretion, are associated with illegal activity or activity that otherwise violates the terms of this User Agreement (‘Blacklisted Addresses’). In the event that you send USDC to a Blacklisted Address, or receive USDC from a Blacklisted Address, Circle may freeze such USDC and take steps to terminate your USDC Account.
Stablecoins are a hot topic as of late, and a reported 57 stablecoins or more have been released or are in development.
2 large companies in the cryptocurrency industry, Circle and Coinbase, are well aware of this movement and have thus collaborated to establish the CENTRE Consortium “CENTRE” which led to the creation of the USDC stablecoin.
The CENTRE Consortium is described as:
… a joint venture [between Coinbase and Circle] aimed at establishing a standard for fiat on the internet and providing a governance framework and network for the global, mainstream adoption of fiat stablecoins.
CENTRE’s stablecoin technology goes beyond the simple “store of value” use case. The technology follows an open-source and transparent stablecoin framework that will allow fiat to interact with smart contracts. Therefore, developers will have a viable way to use real-world “fiat” currencies in blockchain applications.
What do you think of the USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin? Will you use USDC over USDT when it is listed on Binance? Let us know in the comment section below.
With Floki Inu's next bull run approaching, investors are closely monitoring its innovative token burn…
BlockDAG (BDAG) has continued to stand out with its innovative presale strategy, offering early investors…
As we venture into 2024, the crypto market is brimming with potential for unprecedented growth.…
This analysis contrasts the flourishing momentum of BlockDAG coin's presale against the backdrop of the…
Ever wondered what it is like to experience the extravagant casino vibes in the comfort…