5 things to know about USDC

USD Coin, or USDC, is a well-known crypto asset launched by Circle in September 2018. Around 1.5 million people currently hold the asset on Ethereum wallets, for example. USDC’s issuer also states that USDC accounts for over 5 trillion transactions as of September 2. 

Today many exchanges, DApps, wallets, and service providers accept it, making it one of the largest crypto assets. Here are 5 things to know about USDC.

1. USDC: a fiat-based stablecoin

USDC is a stablecoin, a specific type of crypto asset. It’s pegged at a 1:1 ratio with to the US dollar. It means that USDC’s price remains stable, with 1 USDC always worth $1 or so, as shown on the graph below.

2. The 4th largest cryptocurrency

USDC is the 4th largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization according to Coinmarketcap data and the 2nd largest stablecoin just behind USDT.

(Read more: USDT TRC20 analytics: how to implement AML checks?)

As of September 8, 2022, the asset’s market cap accounts for $51,702,473,863, with 51.70 billion units in circulation at $1 each.

3. Are USDC and USDT the same?

USDC and USDT are quite similar since they are both fiat-backed stablecoins at a 1:1 ratio to the US Dollar. 

However, they were created by two different organizations, Centre for USDC and Tether for USDT, which means they have different types of USD reserves, audit policies, etc.

4. USDC and regulatory compliance

Centre, a partnership between Circle and Coinbase exchange, developed USDC and launched it in September 2018. Circle is a regulated and licensed money transmitter under US regulations.

The company highlights the asset as safe and transparent, which is one of the stablecoin’s main characteristics. Also, USDC’s reserves are held by some of the largest financial institutions and are equally fully audited.

5. Availability across many blockchains

First launched as an ERC-20 token on Ethereum, USDC now lives on several blockchains:  Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche, TRON, Algorand, Stellar, Flow, and Hedera.

As USDC is a crypto asset, it is under the scope of AML/CFT regulations in several jurisdictions. VASPs should thus apply appropriate monitoring to their transactions to avoid exposure to risky activities.

Scorechain blockchain analytics solution supports the asset on Ethereum and TRON, allowing users to apply continuous and real-time monitoring to their transactions with automated alerts and red flags.

Interested in learning more about the solution? Discover how Scorechain’s blockchain analytics tools can help you enhance your crypto compliance policies. Don’t hesitate to request a demo.

About Scorechain

Scorechain is a Risk-AML software provider for cryptocurrencies and digital assets. As a leader in crypto compliance, the Luxembourgish company has helped over 200 customers in 45 countries since 2015, ranging from cryptocurrency businesses to financial institutions with crypto trading, custody branch, digital assets, customers onboarding, audit and law firms, and some LEAs.

Scorechain solution supports Bitcoin analytics with Lightning Network detection, Ethereum analytics with all ERC20 tokens and stablecoins, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Dash, XRP Ledger, Tezos, Tron with TRC10 and TRC20 tokens, and BSC with BEP20 tokens. The software can de-anonymize the Blockchain data and connect with sanction lists to provide risk scoring on digital assets, transactions, addresses, and entities. The risk assessment methodology applied by Scorechain has been verified and can be fully customizable to fit all jurisdictions. In addition, 300+ risk-AML scenarios are provided to its customers with a wide range of risk indicators so businesses under the scope of the crypto regulation can report suspicious activity to authorities with enhanced due diligence.