USDC Issuer Circle Responds to EU’s Proposal To Expand Crypto Regulatory Oversight

September 7, 2023 The Daily Hodl

USD Coin officially expands to Base and Optimism networks

September 5, 2023 Coin Telegraph

BASE

Circle’s USDC is now available natively on Base and Optimism, and Coinbase accounts can transfer the stablecoin to Base for the first time.

Circle’s USD Coin (USDC) has launched natively on both Base and Optimism networks, allowing Circle account holders to send USDC stablecoin from their accounts to Base or Optimism. Coinbase has also made USDC transfers to Base available, according to a Sept. 5 social media post. Circle claimed that it is working with “ecosystem partners” to develop a system for users to swap old, bridged versions of USDC for the new, official versions.

1/ It’s here. #StableSeptember. The day you’ve all been waiting for - what comes first? How about two launches on the same day?

Introducing $USDC on @optimismFND and USDC on @BuildOnBase, two leading L2 scaling solutions for Ethereum built on the OP Stack. pic.twitter.com/v3SgJBZ7qG
— Circle (@circle) September 5, 2023

Coinbase’s Base network launched on Aug. 9. But at launch, Coinbase users could not send USDC to the Base network from their exchange accounts, nor could Circle account holders. Base users relied on a bridged version of USDC, called “USDbC,” to make U.S. dollar transactions. On Aug. 29, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire announced that a native version of USDC would be made available “next week,” but no specific date was given.

The Sept. 5 announcement states that the coin is now available natively on Base. On the same day, the Coinbase interface started showing an option to transfer USDC to Base.

Despite this official launch, many decentralized exchanges on the network continue to use the old version of the coin. At the time of publication, Uniswap, Baseswap, Aerodrome, Maverick, and other DEXs continue to show the old contract address when users select the stablecoin.

The announcement stated that USDC has also been launched on Optimism, providing a replacement for the USDC.e token that was previously used on the network. As with Base, Optimism DEXs do not appear to have been integrated with the new version yet.

Circle has been attempting to fight back after its stablecoin lost market share to Tether (USDT) throughout early 2023, but it also faces increasing competition after the launch of two new stablecoins during the summer. First Digital USD was launched in June, and Binance began promoting it in August. PayPal also launched its PYUSD stablecoin on Aug. 7.

Visa taps into Solana to widen USDC payment capability

September 5, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

The global payments firm has expanded its stablecoin settlement capability to include USDC tokens issued on the Solana blockchain.

Global payments processor Visa has rolled out support for USD Coin (USDC) payments settled on the Solana blockchain as its stablecoin offering begins to expand.

Visa revealed that it is carrying out live and completed pilots with issuers and acquirers, moving millions of USDC tokens between partners across the Etheruem and Solana blockchains to settle fiat-based payments.

An announcement from the payments firm outlined the evolution of VISA’s adoption of USDC through pilots involving Crypto.com to integrations with merchant payment processors Worldpay and Nuvei.

The integration of USDC issued on Ethereum and Solana into Visa’s ecosystem means that the former can leverage Visa’s treasury and settlement systems to bridge traditional finance with Web3. Visa’s head of crypto Cuy Sheffield added that tapping into stablecoins USDC and blockchains like Ethereum and Solana help improve the speed of cross-border settlement.

1/ We are excited to announce that Visa has expanded our stablecoin settlement capabilities to merchant acquirers launching pilots with @Worldpay_Global and @Nuvei utilizing the Solana blockchainhttps://t.co/E0TjMO5xiH
— Cuy Sheffield (@cuysheffield) September 5, 2023

Visa began testing USDC in 2021 in collaboration with Crypto.com to test stablecoin settlement on the issuance side. The resulting pilot leveraged Ethereum-based USDC to receive payments from Crypto.com for cross-border volume on its Australian card program.

Settlements for cross-border purchases made on Crypto.com Visa cards had previously required multiple day currency conversion processes and accrued wire transfer fees. As a result the crypto exchange now uses USDC for settlement obligations for its Australian Visa card.

Crypto.com also uses a Visa treasury-managed account with USD Coin issuer Circle to send USDC across border on the Ethereum blockchain which reportedly reduces the length and complexity of international wire transfers.

Circle co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire said that the partnership marks a fundamental blockchain innovation that could alter payments and commerce:

“Circle built USDC to provide a functional digital dollar that could move at the speed of the internet to facilitate secure, reliable payments.”

The integration of USDC also allows Visa to send funds to USDC acquirers including Worldpay and Nuvei, which is expected to increase settlement times for merchants using their services.

The payment processors are then able to route USDC payments to merchants they serve, connecting Visa’s traditional fiat ecosystem through to stablecoins and the wider cryptocurrency space that they serve.

Worldpay merchant solutions president Jim Johnson said that the Visa’s USDC settlement capability would enable it to offer merchants more choices for receiving funds and better manage its treasury operations.

In prior conversation with Cointelegraph during Money20/20 in Amsterdam in June 2023, Nabil Manji, Worldpay head of crypto and web3, outlined how the firm had partnered with Coinbase back in 2013 to allow the exchange to become the first to accept fiat-based card payments worldwide.

Commenting on the latest developments, Manji said Visa’s new USDC settlement service is the first step in allowing Worldpay’s clients to access faster, more cost-efficient settlement of consumer payments.

"It opens the door to exploring future enhancements such as 24/7/365 settlement availability and real-time or multiple daily settlements, all of which can help to accelerate cross-border commerce."

As Cointelegraph previously reported, Visa has begun exploring a solution to make off-chain gas fee settlements for Ethereum using a Paymaster smart contract. These types of smart contracts are able to make payments for users and execute logic for various transaction capabilities.

Magazine: Deposit risk: What do crypto exchanges really do with your money?

USDC will launch natively on Base network ‘next week’ — Jeremy Allaire

August 29, 2023 Coin Telegraph

BASE

Circle announced that a Base version of its USDC stablecoin would be available soon, eventually eliminating the need for the USDbC bridged version.

Circle’s United States dollar stablecoin, USDC, will launch natively on the Base network “next week,” according to an Aug. 29 social media post from CEO Jeremy Allaire. The new version will replace the current US Dollar Base Coin (USDbC) that most users rely on as a substitute.

Native $USDC on @BuildOnBase. Coming next week. #StableSeptember. Let's go! https://t.co/oqfI0ZZhCn
— Jeremy Allaire (@jerallaire) August 29, 2023

Coinbase’s Base network launched on Aug. 9. At the time, no native version of USDC existed on the network. Users could not deposit cash into a Circle account and receive equivalent USDC on Base. To solve this problem, the Base team allowed users to bridge USDC from Ethereum via an official bridge app. The token issued by the bridge is called “USDbC,” and is backed by native USDC locked on the Ethereum network.

The Aug. 29 announcement states that Circle will soon begin issuing USDC on Base, eventually doing away with the need for a bridged coin backed by the Ethereum version.

According to an accompanying blog post, the contract for the new token has already been deployed to Base. On launch day, the team will explain how the current USDbC can be redeemed for native USDC. The team will also “work with ecosystem apps” to allow liquidity providers to “smoothly transition” to providing liquidity for the new coin, and the current Base bridge that issues USDbC will continue to operate normally for the time being.

The Circle team has not announced a specific date for the coin’s official launch, as Allaire stated only that it will happen sometime “next week.”

Base network gained over 136,000 active users on Aug. 10, the day after its launch. On August 25, Base announced it would share its revenue and partly govern the upcoming “Superchain” consisting of Base, Optimism, and other networks.

USDC