What is a USD Coin?

USD Coin is a stablecoin backed by a reserve of U.S. fiat currency. For each USDC in circulation, there is one dollar held in reserve. However, USDC's price fluctuates many times throughout the day (often by the minute), as much as $0.9993.

How do USD coins work?

USD Coins aren’t just being printed out of thin air. Circle guarantees that every USDC token is backed with a single US dollar. The process of turning US dollars into USDC tokens is called tokenization. 1) A user sends USD to the token issuer's bank account. 2) The issuer uses USDC smart contract to create an equivalent amount of USDC.

Is USD Coin a stablecoin?

USD Coin is a stablecoin, and as such one USDC should always be equal in value to one dollar. USD Coin is the currently the second-largest stablecoin, with a current market capitalization of $73 billion. USD Coin and Tether (USDT) together account for 80% of the capitalization of the global stablecoin market.

Who develops USD Coin?

USD Coin is developed by the Centre consortium, a partnership between Circle and Coinbase. The technology and governing framework are developed by Centre, while Circle and Coinbase are the first commercial issuers of USDC. Circle was founded in 2013 by the entrepreneurs Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville.