Crypto Startup Circle Finally Launches In-House Stablecoin
Circle, a Boston-based cryptocurrency-focused startup, has hinted at its plans to launch a stablecoin cryptocurrency for months on end, divulging that it had partnered with Bitmain to issue a USD-backed crypto asset in May.
Finally, after months of development behind closed doors, the firm released an announcement via its official Medium blog to tell this nascent industry that its stablecoin, dubbed USDC, is ready to hit public markets near you. Per the announcement, which was short but sweet, the firm explained that USDC is a “fully collateralized US dollar stablecoin,” which will allow investors, from both institutional and retail backgrounds, to deposit USD dollars in exchange for USDC at an exchange ratio of 1:1.
Explaining the specifics of this venture, Circle revealed that USDC is an ERC-20 token, which allows for the firm’s operations to stay transparent and in-line with the regulatory framework imposed by global governmental bodies.
It was also noted that this is the first fiat-based stablecoin that has been developed by CENTRE, “the open source project and membership consortium” that has plans to launch similar products in the near future as this space develops.
Starting on Thursday, traders will be able to utilize USDC on the Poloniex exchange, which Circle owns, as an alternative to Tether (USDT).
Speaking with Business Insider on the matter, David Allaire, the CEO of the startup, explained this venture into the stablecoin sub-industry, highlighting his firm’s aspirations for the move. Allaire first pointed out that “fiat token models” are integral to blockchain infrastructure, as stablecoins will likely enable the use of decentralized technologies from everything from “tokenized debt and lending to securities and investment contracts — all these things are so powerful.”
In short, the industry leader noted:
It’s really a fundamental building block for all of the excitement that exists around crypto… But I think the next layer, and so much of what we’re excited about, is how this becomes part of the broader market infrastructure that’s needed to rebuild the financial system on top of crypto, which is what so many of us are here for.
Following the aforementioned implementation into Poloniex, crypto exchanges like OKCoin and Coinex, along with wallet providers like Coinbase, are expected to introduce USDC support over the next few months. Due to the fact that Tether is “problematic,” as put by Allaire, it only makes sense for firms to continue to strive to create a stablecoin product that can be trusted by individuals across the world.
Despite this news, which many saw as a strong step forward, there were some skeptics who claimed that the stablecoin sub-sector is starting to become overpopulated and crowded, simply put. Even prior to the announcement of the public release of Circle’s USDC, Travis Kling, a former portfolio manager turned crypto hedge fund manager, explained that the dozens of stablecoins that currently exist are “over-capitalizing attractive areas of investment so much that they have become bad investments.”
Crypto over-capitalizes attractive areas of investment so much they become bad investments-
Oh Exchanges make money? Cool, here's 250
Oh USDT has $3bn of mkt cap? Cool, 40 Stablecoins
Oh Fat Protocol Thesis? Cool, $6bn for Hashgraph
Oh Mining is profitable? Cool, 4x difficulty— Travis Kling (@Travis_Kling) September 26, 2018
Interestingly enough, this news only comes a week after two similar products were approved by a prominent New York regulator, which likely led the aforementioned Ikigai founder to issue the tweet seen above.
Photo by Artem Bali on Unsplash
