USD Coin or USDC is a stablecoin created in 2018 by Coinbase and Circle as a more compliant and regulated alternative to Tether. It is always, with small exceptions, tied to the US dollar, i.e. 1 USDC equals $1.
Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies primarily used as tools for payments and whenever one needs an cash alternative without leaving the crypto ecosystem.
It’s not so much that you invest in USD Coin, it’s more that you hold money in it while doing other things or as a cash box that’s more remote than your bank account.
The Centre Consortium is the body responsible for governing the coin. It ensures that standards are adhered to and that every coin is backed — there must be a dollar held in reserves for every USDC. The only issue is, well, the Centre Consortium was founded by Coinbase and Circle themselves. But hey, not like the dollar itself is backed by anything.
Just like USDT, USDC is available on most major crypto exchanges, and the coin can be sent and received from a wallet or exchange that is compatible with ERC-20 and other blockchains like Bincance Smart Chain, Tron, Solana, and others.
USD Coin currently has the 4th largest market cap at $53.84 billion (6/8/22), just after Tether and before BNB, but its trading volume is less than 10% of that for Tether as the latter is more commonly used for payments and trading.
There is no single best way to invest in USD Coin but it can be useful in many applications when working with crypto. Even though stablecoins don’t provide returns by themselves, many people protect their crypto portfolios by investing in USD Coin when trading or simply to keep money in cash.
It’s also possible to invest in USDC and get returns, e.g. by lending it via money lenders, such as Ledn, Celsius or BlockFi or by staking your USD Coin investment into a currency pair on decentralized exchanges (DeFi).
If you decide to invest in USD Coin today, either by buying the stablecoin or by swapping some of your existing crypto into USDC, remember that the coin loses value along with the dollar, so think of ways to put your coins to good use in the long term.
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine we saw a massive increase in trading volumes of both Tether and USDC, it looks like everyone wants to invest in USD Coin now. It’s hard to call it a good investment because it doesn’t bring money by itself, but it can be better than keeping money in a local currency, which may fall in relation to the dollar.
If you, like some people, hold all your money in Tether and altcoins, it might be a good idea to invest in USD Coin today to protect you from risk and keep some of the money in the other stablecoins like USDC, DAI or others.
If you’re asking where can I invest in USD Coin, ask a crypto exchange near you but perhaps first ask yourself why you need it.
Check back to this page to check the USDC price now or current prices on the biggest cryptocurrencies and stocks. Check out our stock hub to get good investment ideas with stock prices.
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