Definition
A stablecoin pegged 1:1 to the US dollar, issued by Circle (co-founded with Coinbase under the Centre Consortium). Each USDC token is backed by cash and short-duration US Treasury bonds held in regulated financial institutions.
USDC is the second-largest stablecoin by market cap, behind Tether (USDT). What sets it apart is transparency: Circle publishes monthly reserve attestation reports from a major accounting firm, so you can verify the backing exists.
Common use cases include DeFi lending and borrowing (Aave, Compound), trading pairs on centralized and decentralized exchanges, cross-border payments, and payroll for remote workers. Many protocols treat USDC as their default "safe" asset.
USDC vs USDT: USDC is generally seen as more transparent and regulatory-friendly. USDT has a larger market cap and deeper liquidity, but has faced questions about its reserve composition. Both maintain their dollar peg through redemption mechanisms.
In March 2023, USDC briefly lost its peg (dropping to ~$0.87) after Circle disclosed $3.3 billion in reserves were stuck at the collapsing Silicon Valley Bank. The peg recovered within days once the FDIC backstopped deposits.
USDC is available on Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche, Polygon, Base, Arbitrum, and several other chains. Circle's Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP) enables native USDC transfers between supported networks.
