USD Coin
USD Coin (USDC) is a U.S. dollar-denominated stablecoin issued by Circle through Circle Internet Financial, LLC and Circle Internet Financial Europe SAS.[1][2] It is designed for redemption at one U.S. dollar per USDC under the issuer's terms. The token was introduced by Circle and the Centre open-source consortium on 26 September 2018 as a way to represent U.S. dollars on public blockchains. At launch, the service allowed users to deposit dollars, receive tokens and redeem them through participating services.[3]
History and governance
In August 2023, Circle and Coinbase announced that Centre would cease to be a separate entity, with Circle taking its governance and operational responsibilities in-house. Coinbase acquired an equity stake in Circle under an agreement that also addressed sharing income from USDC reserves.[4][5]
Issuance and reserves
Circle says that USDC reserves are held separately from its operating funds. Its reserve disclosures list bank deposits, short-dated U.S. Treasury securities and overnight reverse repurchase agreements. The European Central Bank's November 2025 Financial Stability Review also described USDC reserves as predominantly liquid assets, including Treasuries, reverse repos, money-market-fund holdings, cash and bank deposits.[6] Circle says it publishes reserve holdings and mint-and-burn flows weekly. It also says a Big Four accounting firm provides monthly third-party assurance that reserve value exceeds USDC in circulation. The reports examine reserve assertions under AICPA attestation standards.[7]
The one-dollar figure is a redemption design and target, not a guarantee that USDC will trade for exactly one dollar on every exchange or that every holder can redeem directly with Circle. Circle's terms describe direct redemption through a Circle account and make it subject to applicable terms, law, eligibility and fees. These USDC terms apply to holders outside the European Economic Area (EEA); Circle's separate MiCA policy describes an EEA route that allows retail holders to submit a redemption request to Circle France, subject to identity and transaction checks and other stated criteria. Access to redemption and services therefore depends on jurisdiction and account eligibility.[8][9]
Circle's terms state that holders are not entitled to interest or other returns earned on reserve assets, and that USDC itself does not generate a return for holders. The terms also reserve the ability to block on-chain transfers involving listed addresses and freeze associated USDC in specified circumstances, including at Circle-custodied addresses or under a valid government order. The same terms state that third-party transfers are irreversible.[10]
Blockchains and transfers
USDC exists as tokens on multiple blockchains. A token issued natively by Circle on a supported blockchain is distinct from a third-party bridged representation. Circle describes bridged USDC as a token created by a third party and backed by USDC locked in a smart contract on another blockchain. Circle can elect to upgrade a token following its Bridged USDC Standard to native USDC but is not obliged to do so.[11][12]
Circle's Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP) moves native USDC between supported blockchains by burning tokens on the source chain and minting them on the destination chain. Circle's technical guide says its off-chain Iris attestation service signs a message after the source-chain burn; a user or application submits that attestation to the destination contract. The process relies on Circle's attestation service as part of the transfer's trust assumptions, as well as on the relevant blockchains and contracts.[13]
ChainSecurity's April 2023 audit of CCTP also identified a Circle-operated off-chain attestation service in the implementation it examined. That review concerned the contracts within its 2023 scope, rather than a guarantee about later versions or every supported blockchain.[14]
Peg stability
A stablecoin's ability to maintain par can depend on confidence in its reserves and the ability to convert it into fiat. A Bank for International Settlements working paper models how public information about reserve quality and the costs of conversion can affect the risk of runs on stablecoins; the paper considers stablecoins in general rather than predicting a specific outcome for USDC.[15] In March 2023, amid concern about Circle's exposure to Silicon Valley Bank, Circle reported that $3.3 billion of USDC reserves had been held at the failed bank. On 13 March 2023, Circle said that the funds would be available following regulatory intervention and that the dollar de-peg had closed.[16][17]
Payment uses
Circle launched USDC with support from cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets, describing payment and trading applications for dollar-denominated tokens.[18]
On 7 October 2026, Samsung announced that USDC transfers in Samsung Wallet were planned to begin in the last week of October for eligible Galaxy users in the United States. Samsung described transfers to compatible wallets and eligible bank accounts, with service partners providing custody and infrastructure. It also presented in-store tap payments as a possible future capability rather than a launch feature.[19][20]
References
- ↑ USDC Terms, Circle, accessed 16 October 2026.
- ↑ Primary and secondary markets for stablecoins, Federal Reserve, 23 February 2024.
- ↑ Introducing USD Coin, Circle, 26 September 2018.
- ↑ Ushering in the next chapter for USDC, Circle, 21 August 2023.
- ↑ Coinbase to invest in Circle, shut down jointly managed Centre, Reuters, 21 August 2023.
- ↑ Stablecoins on the rise: still small in the euro area, but spillover risks loom, European Central Bank, November 2025.
- ↑ Transparency & stability, Circle, accessed 16 October 2026.
- ↑ USDC Terms, Circle, accessed 16 October 2026.
- ↑ MiCA Redemption Policy, Circle Europe, accessed 16 October 2026.
- ↑ USDC Terms, Circle, accessed 16 October 2026.
- ↑ Bridged USDC Standard, Circle, accessed 16 October 2026.
- ↑ Interoperability of blockchain systems and the future of payments, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 27 March 2025.
- ↑ CCTP technical guide, Circle Developer Docs, accessed 16 October 2026.
- ↑ Circle Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol security audit, ChainSecurity, completed 26 April 2023.
- ↑ Public information and stablecoin runs, BIS Working Papers No. 1164, 29 January 2024.
- ↑ $3.3 Billion of USDC Reserve Risk Removed, Dollar De-peg Closes, Circle, 13 March 2023.
- ↑ In the shadow of a bank run: lessons from the Silicon Valley Bank failure and its impact on stablecoins, Federal Reserve, 17 December 2025.
- ↑ Introducing USD Coin, Circle, 26 September 2018.
- ↑ Samsung Wallet to Bring Stablecoin Access to Eligible Galaxy Users in the US, Samsung Newsroom, 7 October 2026.
- ↑ Samsung to launch USDC transfers on Solana for US Galaxy users, The Block, 7 October 2026, updated 8 October 2026.