TL;DR: Coinbase believes crypto will be part of the solution for creating an open financial system that is both more efficient and more equitable. We co-founded the Centre Consortium in 2018 to invest in the build of USDC, and since then it has become the second largest stablecoin by market capitalization. We firmly believe that USDC will be a key component of a new financial paradigm, as it helps to bridge the gap between the worlds of crypto and fiat.
Stablecoins provide a bridge between the traditional financial system and the cryptoeconomy, allowing fiat currencies to exist in a form that can move more freely and more efficiently on blockchains. Unlike conventional payment methods, stablecoin payments require no centralized intermediary. We believe that stablecoins — USDC, most importantly — will be the foundation of a new era of innovation in financial services.
Why USDC?
Back in 2018, we co-founded the Centre Consortium to create the most trusted and reputable digital dollar. Stablecoins have many uses, from trading in digital asset markets to making payments. We launched USDC as a way to simplify these processes so that anyone can participate, continuing to drive towards our goal of economic freedom. Since then, we’ve built a suite of supporting products and systems to enable:
The value of many cryptocurrencies can fluctuate by the minute, so holding an asset like USDC gives buyers and sellers the stability and confidence they need in times of volatility. The stability of USDC comes from the fact that it is backed by one US dollar or asset with equivalent fair value held in accounts with US regulated financial institutions ¹— the defining feature of a fiat-backed stablecoin (as opposed to a crypto-backed or algorithmic stablecoin). These accounts are attested to and verified publicly by an independent accounting firm. The market capitalization of USDC increased from $28 billion to $54 billion between August 2021 and August 2022² which speaks to the confidence in USDC as a high quality liquid asset.
As an active member of the Centre Consortium, Coinbase is continuously developing our USDC product suite to grow the USDC ecosystem for our Retail, Institutional, and Developer customers.
The strength of USDC’s peg to the U.S. dollar, backed by high-quality reserves and with transparent disclosures, makes it a practical option for users who want to remain active in the crypto market during a downturn. We’ve already seen significant adoption of…
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