USD Coin

Circle has always pitched USDC as the transparent, regulation-friendly counterweight to Tether, and it is the second-largest stablecoin by supply. Every token is meant to be covered by cash and short-dated US Treasuries, held at regulated banks and in a BlackRock-managed reserve fund, with monthly attestations of the holdings. Circle carries money-transmitter licenses across US states, a French e-money license bringing it under Europe's MiCA regime, and UK authorization, and it listed publicly in 2025. Direct redemption at par runs through Circle Mint and is an institutional channel: it requires full onboarding, background checks and sanctions screening, so retail users rely on exchanges. USDC's resilience was tested in March 2023, when exposure to the failing Silicon Valley Bank briefly knocked it to around 88 cents before it recovered. It now spans well over a hundred blockchains.