USDC
USD Coin (USDC) is a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar on a 1:1 basis, backed by a reserve of cash and short-term U.S. Treasury bonds. Launched in September 2018 by the Centre consortium, USDC is issued by regulated financial institutions. It aims to be "digital money for the digital age," facilitating cashless transactions. USDC serves various use cases, including a safe haven for crypto traders, enabling businesses to accept digital payments, and impacting sectors like decentralized finance and gaming. The goal is widespread acceptance across wallets, exchanges, and other platforms.
MakerDAO Keeps USDC as Primary Collateral for Dai
MakerDAO has voted to keep USDC as the primary collateral for Dai, rejecting a proposal to diversify into GUSD and USDP. The decision was made based on reduced risks from a cascading bank run in the US and USDC's return to a $1 peg.
Mastercard Enables USDC Spending in Asia
Mastercard has partnered with Stables to allow retail customers in the Asia-Pacific region to spend and save USDC through its network. Meanwhile, worldwide banking turmoil has not slowed the blending of traditional and decentralized finance (DeFi).
Global payment provider Mastercard has expanded its partnership with the Australian stablecoin platform, Stables, to enable retail customers in the Asia-Pacific region to spend and save USDC anywhere Mastercard is accepted. The wallet will accept deposits in several stablecoins, including Tether (USDT) and Binance USD (BUSD), with all deposits automatically converted into USDC. This move comes as worldwide banking turmoil and regulatory crackdowns continue to impact the crypto space.
Banking crisis could push cryptocurrency regulation into gray area
Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire believes that the ongoing global banking crisis could lead to more uncertainty and gray area in the regulation of cryptocurrencies due to market anxiety over exposure to the US financial system and the risk of a large-scale banking system failure.
USD Coin Chief Strategy Officer Twitter Account Hacked
Circle's USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin chief strategy officer Dante Disparte's Twitter account has been hacked, with the account reportedly promoting fake loyalty rewards to long-time users of USDC.
Former Coinbase CTO Bets $1 Million on Bitcoin Reaching $1 Million in 90 Days
Former Coinbase chief technology officer Balaji Srinivasan has placed a bet worth $1 million on Bitcoin's price reaching $1 million by June 17. Srinivasan accepted the wager from pseudonymous Twitter user James Medlock, who bet $1 million that the United States would not experience hyperinflation.
Moody warns of stablecoin adoption risk
Moody's Investors Service has warned that the recent turmoil in the traditional banking sector and USDC losing its peg could negatively impact stablecoin adoption and increase calls for regulation. The credit rating agency believes that fiat-backed stablecoins like USDC could face new resistance, limiting their stability and potentially causing a run on banks holding Circle's assets, which could lead to the depegging of other stablecoins.
Circle's Stablecoin USDC Affected by Collapsed Bank
Circle's USDC stablecoin briefly de-pegged after news that $3.3 billion of its cash reserves were stuck with collapsed bank Silicon Valley Bank. USDC's dollar peg has since recovered, but mass redemptions have led to a drop in the stablecoin's market cap by nearly 10% since March 11.
Depegging of USDC and DAI Saves Borrowers $100 Million
The depegging of USD Coin (USDC) and Dai (DAI) from the US dollar resulted in more than $2 billion in loan repayments on decentralized lending protocols Aave and Compound, with borrowers saving a total of over $100 million. USDC and DAI started heading back toward their peg, and repayment activity tapered off in the following days.
FTX Continues to Move Funds Amid Ongoing Investigations
Addresses associated with FTX and its subsidiary, Alameda Research, have reportedly transferred $145 million in stablecoins to various platforms, as the cryptocurrency exchange faces demands to return funds to different groups of investors amid ongoing investigations and lawsuits.
Binance converts remaining $1 billion in Industry Recovery Initiative to native crypto amidst concerns around stablecoins
Binance co-founder and CEO, Changpeng Zhao, announced on March 13 that the exchange will be converting the remaining $1 billion funds in its Industry Recovery Initiative to native crypto amid concerns surrounding stablecoins. This decision was made following the depegging of the USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin caused by the failure of three major crypto-friendly banks - Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), Silvergate Bank, and Signature Bank.