A stablecoin called USDC is making waves in today’s cryptocurrency market.
Eduardo Prospero at NewsBTC reports on how this ERC-20 token coin managed by Circle and Coinbase through a project called CENTRE is competing with other alternatives like Tether (USDT).
“The second biggest stablecoin by market capitalization is already a multi-blockchain project,” Prospero writes. “Soon, though, USDC will live almost everywhere. According to Coindesk, it will soon be available in, ‘Avalanche, Celo, Flow, Hedera, Kava, Nervos, Polkadot, Stacks, Tezos, and Tron.’ That will bring the total to 14; since USDC is already functional in Ethereum, Algorand, Stellar, and Solana. The biggest stablecoin, Tether or USDT, is only available in 8 of those. Currently, the most used stablecoin is Tron’s version of USDT.”
As Prospero points out, CENTRE actually holds the USDC stablecoin funds for backup. Tether, on the other hand, does not, and a supersized controversy over a joint project with exchange Bitfinex saw the New York Atty. General’s office questioning both parties over missing funds last year.
On a stabler footing, executives anticipate USDC will be able to compete with traditional banking systems like Swift and ACH for quick and easy payments.
“We anticipate that USDC on these blockchain platforms and multichain protocols will further accelerate the use of the world’s fastest growing digital dollar currency,” CENTRE spokespersons said, according to Prospero’s reporting.
That’s a game changer for banking, and it’s something that crypto enthusiasts have been looking at for quite a while.
Citing an alternative to CBDCs, Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Randal Quarles said this in a press statement:
“In my judgment, we do not need to fear stablecoins. The Federal Reserve has traditionally supported responsible private-sector innovation. Consistent with this tradition, I believe that we must take strong account of the potential benefits of stablecoins, including the possibility that a U.S. dollar stablecoin might support the role of the dollar in the global economy. For example, a global U.S. dollar stablecoin network could encourage use of the dollar by making cross-border payments faster and cheaper, and it potentially could be deployed much faster and with fewer downsides than a CBDC.”
Look for USDC to be a player in the defi world of the future.
