1. USDC Overview
USD Coin (USDC) is a stablecoin with a value pegged to the US dollar.
USDC debuted in 2018 on the Ethereum blockchain. It’s now available on several other chains.
The Centre Consortium conceived USDC as an alternative to Tether (USDT), focusing on transparency over its USD backing.
2. Issuer
USDC is issued by Circle, a company in the private sector, while a CBDC would be issued by a government. While most CBDCs are only in the research phase, USDC exists today and is widely used by millions of people around the world.
3. Function and features
USD Coin (USDC) is an asset backed stablecoin whose value is pegged to the U.S. Dollar (USD).
Every USDC token in circulation is backed by $1 USD in cash or cash equivalents, such as short-term U.S. Treasury bonds held by regulated U.S. financial institutions. USDC has adopted the ERC-20 token standard, making it interoperable with all Ethereum-based applications. The token is now found on many other popular blockchains including Algorland, Solana and Tron
The price predictability of USDC has allowed it to serve as a safe haven for cryptocurrency traders during periods of market volatility. USDC also enables a more efficient transaction of value in a stable digital currency across borders than has been the norm from traditional finance.
USDC’s utility is underscored by its extensive ecosystem of holders and service providers such as decentralized applications (dApps) and crypto exchanges.
4. Mining method
Unlike cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, new USDC isn’t released into circulation through the mining process. Instead, new USDC tokens are minted when users and businesses deposit United States government backed currency into their Circle account. A 1:1 representation of that asset, whose record of transactions is recorded and maintained using the efficiencies of blockchain technology, is created by exchanging USD for USDC.