USDC
usdc#6Price History (USD)
Market Metrics
Supply & All-Time Highs
What is USDC?
USD Coin (USDC) is the world's second-largest stablecoin by capitalization, issued by Circle since 2018 and backed by reserves in cash and short-term US Treasury bonds. It has positioned itself as the most transparent and regulatorily aligned stablecoin on the market, with monthly audits and state licenses in the United States.
How it works
USDC maintains a 1:1 peg to the US dollar through declared reserves in cash and equivalents (primarily short-term Treasury bonds) custodied by regulated US financial institutions. The composition of the reserves is published monthly with audits by a Big Four firm. Circle mints and burns tokens according to demand on each blockchain where USDC lives natively: Ethereum, Solana, Base, Avalanche, Polygon and a dozen more. The per-chain mint/burn mechanism enables constant arbitrage that stabilizes the peg.
Use cases
USDC is the preferred stablecoin in institutional DeFi, corporate treasuries that hold liquidity in digital dollars and much of the on-chain volume in the United States and Europe. Its regulatory profile (MiCA compliance in the EU, state licenses in the US) makes it suitable for institutional environments where Tether does not fit. Visa, Stripe, Shopify and other payment integrations use USDC as crypto-dollar settlement rails. Some Bitcoin treasuries hold USDC as an operational USD reserve.
Risks and bank dependence
The health of USDC depends directly on Circle as the issuer and on the banks custodying the reserves. The episode of March 2023, when the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, where Circle had $3.3B deposited, triggered a brief loss of peg (USDC fell to $0.87), exposed that dependence and reminded everyone that no centralized stablecoin is free from counterparty risk. After the incident, Circle reinforced custody with BlackRock and diversified its bank accounts.
Frequently asked questions
What is USDC?
USDC (USD Coin) is the world's second-largest stablecoin by capitalization, issued by Circle since 2018. It maintains a 1:1 peg to the US dollar through reserves in cash and short-term US Treasury bonds, audited monthly by a Big Four firm. It lives natively across multiple blockchains.
Is USDC safer than USDT?
USDC has a more transparent regulatory profile that is more aligned with institutional frameworks. It publishes monthly audits (vs Tether's quarterly and limited ones), operates under state licenses in the US and meets MiCA requirements in the European Union. For these reasons, USDC is preferred in institutional DeFi and corporate treasuries. USDT maintains greater global capitalization and dominance in Asian retail markets.
Which networks does USDC live on?
USDC lives natively on Ethereum, Solana, Base, Avalanche, Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism, Stellar, Algorand, NEAR and a dozen more networks. Circle mints and burns USDC per blockchain according to demand, maintaining the peg through constant arbitrage. The choice of network involves differences in fees, speed and compatibility with specific DeFi protocols.
Why did USDC lose its peg in March 2023?
On March 10, 2023, the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, where Circle had $3.3B of its reserves deposited, triggered uncertainty over Circle's ability to maintain the peg. USDC traded as low as $0.87 for 48 hours. The peg recovered when the US Treasury guaranteed SVB's deposits. Circle subsequently diversified custody with BlackRock and other banks.
Data via CoinGecko API · Revalidated every 60s · Historical chart in USD