Coinbase Adds Its First Stablecoin Tied to the US Dollar

Oct 23, 2018 at 16:18 UTC
 |  Updated 
Oct 23, 2018 at 16:18 UTC

Crypto exchange Coinbase announced support for the Circle-issued stablecoin Tuesday.

In a blog post, the exchange said U.S. customers outside the state of New York can now buy, sell, send and receive the USD//Coin (USDC), which was first announced last month. It intends to offer the coin to customers in different regions going forward.

USDC is the first stablecoin supported by Coinbase, and is only the second ERC-20 token the exchange’s customers can trade after it added the 0x token earlier this month.

“The underlying technology behind the USDC was developed collaboratively between Coinbase and Circle, in our capacity as partners and co-founders of the new CENTRE Consortium,” the post explained.

Each token is backed by U.S. dollar holding at a 1:1 ratio, the post stated, meaning it is 100 percent collateralized.

It added:

“The advantage of a blockchain-based digital dollar like USDC is easier to program with, to send quickly, to use in dApps, and to store locally than traditional bank account-based dollars. That’s why we think of it as an important step towards a more open financial system.”

Coinbase Wallet already supports the USDC token, and Coinabse Pro will begin supporting the token “in the coming weeks,” the post noted.

In a separate post, Circle co-founders Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville outlined the CENTRE Consortium, which was launched Tuesday with Coinbase.

CENTRE, first announced last year, was a Circle initiative focused on building a payments network. The new consortium builds on that, according to the post.

Dollars image via Shutterstock

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.