$USDC

USDC (USD Coin) is a fully-collateralized US dollar stablecoin created by Circle and Coinbase through the Centre Consortium in 2018. As the second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization, USDC maintains a 1:1 peg with the US dollar and is backed by cash and short-term US Treasury securities held in segregated accounts with regulated financial institutions.

What distinguishes USDC is its regulatory compliance and transparency. Circle publishes monthly attestation reports from Grant Thornton, detailing the exact composition of reserves backing each USDC token. The company operates under money transmission licenses and adheres to strict regulatory frameworks, making it a preferred choice for institutional investors and DeFi protocols requiring regulatory clarity.

USDC operates on multiple blockchains including Ethereum, Polygon, Avalanche, and Solana, enabling seamless transfers across different ecosystems. Its programmable nature allows integration into smart contracts and decentralized applications, facilitating lending, trading, and yield farming activities. The stablecoin's regulatory backing, full reserve transparency, and widespread adoption across centralized and decentralized exchanges make it a cornerstone of the digital asset ecosystem, particularly for users prioritizing compliance and institutional-grade security.