#1 of a series on USDC Trust and Transparency, by Circle’s CFO, Jeremy Fox-Geen.
Since inception, Circle has intended for USD Coin (USDC) to be the most transparent and trusted dollar digital currency. We remain committed to transparency and trust, and will continue to enhance reporting and disclosure with simple, clear and frequent updates. Visit buildonusdc.com to learn more.
Here are some facts:
USDC is fully backed
- USDC has always been backed by the equivalent value of U.S. dollar denominated assets; USDC reserves are kept in the management and custody of leading U.S. financial institutions, including BlackRock and Bank of New York Mellon
- The USDC reserve is held entirely in cash and short-dated U.S. government obligations, consisting of U.S. Treasuries with maturities of 3 months or less
- As of 12:00pm EST Friday, May 13, 2022, the USDC reserve consisted of $11.6 billion cash (22.9%), $39.0 billion U.S. Treasuries (77.1%), for a total of $50.6 billion (100%), and there were 50.6 billion USDC in circulation
- Since launch September 2018, we have published monthly attestations from a leading global accounting firm, that the USDC reserve is worth at least as much as the number of USDC in circulation, providing reputable third-party assurance of this fact to the USDC ecosystem
- Circle, the issuer of USDC, is audited annually, including the USDC reserve; the last two audits, for 2020 and 2021, have been published as part of Circle’s SEC filings as we prepare to become a listed public company on the New York Stock Exchange
- USDC issuance is regulated pursuant to U.S. state money transmission supervision and is subject to ongoing examination of Circle and its operations
USDC is always redeemable 1:1 for U.S. dollars
- A Circle customer can always mint or redeem USDC in 1:1 exchange for U.S. Dollars through their Circle Account; customers are able to mint and redeem nearly instantly subject to settlement of funds
- Individual retail users can exchange USDC for U.S. Dollars globally through leading digital asset exchanges such as Binance, Coinbase and FTX
- As of today, we will provide weekly and eventually daily reporting on minting and redemption activity
- During 2021, Circle minted 99.3 billion USDC and redeemed 61.1 billion USDC
- During the last 7 days, Circle minted 8.4 billion USDC and redeemed 6.7 billion USDC
- There are thousands of projects and exchanges supporting USDC in over 190 countries, facilitating use and exchange of USDC for market participants
- The 24-hour trading volume of USDC as of Friday, May 13 was $10.5 billion
Continue Reading our Trust & Transparency series with How to Build Trust
