Besides, Circle is known as the crypto startup backed by Goldman Sachs. When U.S. dollars are swapped for USDC on a digital asset exchange, the exchange will typically provide the balance of USDC it has on-hand to fulfill the swap. If the exchange needs more USDC to fulfill the swap, the exchange will often use its Circle Account to mint more USDC. Stablecoin “volume” refers to the total amount of trades occurring in a set amount of time. “Liquidity,” on the other hand, refers to the number of coins available for trading at the set price (which is $1 in both these cases). Typically, the higher the volume, the easier it should potentially be to trade your coins in a rapid and reliable fashion.

Let us recall that both USDC and USDT mostly operate on the Ethereum blockchain and are pegged to the US dollar. Due to transaction-free transfers on any Omni Layer supported wallet and the relatively quick transaction, USDT is useful for trading. It is also used for instant payment and transfers on the blockchain. Learn more about Consensus 2023, CoinDesk’s longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3.

Is USDT the same as USDC and USDD?

Since both USDC and USDT are stablecoins, holding onto only one of them exposes the risk of losing your funds if the company backing the stablecoin goes bankrupt. As of 2021, USDT is the most traded stablecoin in the market, as the ability to quickly switch blockchains holds many advantages without getting involved in volatility. In fact, it mostly operates on the Ethereum blockchain but also exists on other blockchains, such as Bitcoin, Tron and EOSIO. Coinbase is waiving the conversion fees for users who wish to switch to a „trusted stablecoin“ in a new campaign that highlights the quality of reserves that back Circle-owned USD coin .

• The stablecoins have the same uses and normally keep a value of $1.
• Since the USD Coin launch in 2018, Circle has been publishing monthly attestations from Grant Thornton LLP to show that they have sufficient reserves to back every USDC token in circulation.
• First, Tether was hacked to the tune of 31 million USDT in 2017 and the company initiated an „emergency hard-fork“ to brush it under the rug and save face rather than demonstrate accountability.
• To hedge against the volatility of other digital assets, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, or even traditional fiat currencies.
• The tokenization process ensures there are reserves backing the entire supply of USD Coin.

New usdt vs usdc tokens are minted when people buy them, and they’re removed from circulation when people sell their tokens for U.S. dollars. Another point in USD Coin’s favor is the type of funds backing it. While some issuers back their stablecoins with a variety of financial instruments, the USD Coin reserves consist of only U.S. treasury securities and cash deposits. Industry-leading security is ZenGo’s commitment while never sacrificing your user experience.

Earn interest on USDC and USDT

USDC is a USD-backed cryptocurrency and, in essence, is a service that tokenizes U.S. dollars and allows them to be used on public blockchains. The project retains $1 in collateral for every USDC token under issuance. The ERC-20 smart contract ensures the issuance and exchange of USDC coins. Circle publishes attestation reports every month on its reserve balances backing USDC, and it’s a licensed money transmitter in 46 US states.

Is USDC always $1?

However, this scenario did not impact USDC’s current dominance, although there may be some repercussions for the stablecoin in the future. Now that the similarities and differences between USDT and USDC have been explored to some degree, it’s time to explore the advantages and disadvantages of these disparate systems. Ultimately, whether you choose to use USDC or USDT, it is always recommended to do your own research to understand which stablecoin is a better fit for you. With regards to its proof of funds, critics have raised concerns about Tether’s transparency in the last few years, as it was ambiguous as to what USDT is exactly backed. However, this issue was settled by the New York Attorney General after a legal dispute that started in 2019. Recently, Binance has stopped supporting USDC, auto-converting customer holdings into its own stablecoin BUSD.