What Is USDC? USD Coin Explained

USDC (USD Coin) is a stablecoin issued by Circle that aims to keep a value of one US dollar. Circle says each token is backed by cash and cash-equivalent assets and publishes monthly reserve reports. USDC runs on many blockchains, can briefly trade below $1, as it did in March 2023, and is not a bank deposit.

USDC, short for USD Coin, is a stablecoin: a crypto token designed to keep a steady value of one US dollar. It is issued by Circle, a US company. If stablecoins are new to you, start with our guide to what a stablecoin is and how it works.

People use USDC to hold a dollar value on a blockchain, to move money between crypto wallets and platforms, and to trade other coins. This guide explains who issues USDC, what backs it, where it runs and what can go wrong. For the live rate, see the USDC price and payment options.

Who issues USDC?

Circle issues USDC. According to Circle’s USDC terms, the US company Circle Internet Financial, LLC issues it, and since July 1, 2024 Circle’s French company, Circle Internet Financial Europe SAS, has also issued USDC for holders in the European Economic Area.

USDC launched on September 26, 2018. At first it was run through CENTRE, a consortium founded by Circle and Coinbase, with Circle as the first company to issue the coin. In August 2023 the two companies closed CENTRE. Circle took over its work, including holding all the keys to the USDC smart contracts.

In June 2025, Circle’s parent company, Circle Internet Group, Inc., listed its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker CRCL.

USDC is one of the largest stablecoins. Circle reported $75.2 billion of USDC in circulation on September 24, 2026. As of September 2026, data from DefiLlama ranks USDC second by amount in circulation, after Tether’s USDT.

How does USDC keep its value at $1?

USDC keeps its value through minting and redemption. Circle creates new USDC when an approved customer sends it US dollars, and takes USDC out of circulation when a customer returns it for dollars, one for one.

This service is called Circle Mint. Circle says it is for businesses such as exchanges, banks, trading firms and wallet providers, and it is not available to individuals. Individuals get USDC on crypto platforms instead, from other holders.

If USDC trades below $1 on those platforms, Circle’s business customers can buy it cheaply and redeem it with Circle for a full dollar. If it trades above $1, they can create new USDC and sell it. This trading tends to pull the market price back toward $1. It does not hold the price there exactly, though, and the price can move further in stressed markets.

What backs USDC?

Circle says USDC is backed by cash and cash-equivalent assets, and that the reserves are worth more than the USDC in circulation. As of September 2026, Circle describes its reserves like this:

The Circle Reserve Fund. Most of the reserve sits in this US government money market fund, managed by BlackRock. It can hold cash, short-dated US Treasury bills and overnight loans backed by Treasuries.
Cash at banks. The rest of the reserve is held as cash, mostly at a handful of the world’s largest banks.
Monthly reports. Each month, a Big Four accounting firm reports on whether the reserves are worth more than the USDC in circulation. Circle publishes these reports on its transparency page.

These monthly reports are attestations. An attestation checks the issuer’s reserve figures at a point in time. It is not a full audit of the company’s accounts, so read what each report covers and when it was made.

Which blockchains does USDC run on?

USDC runs on many blockchains rather than one of its own. As of September 2026, Circle lists 38 blockchains where it issues USDC directly, including Ethereum, Solana, Base, Arbitrum, Polygon PoS, Stellar and Avalanche. On each one, USDC is a token that lives on that blockchain.

You may also come across bridged USDC. A third party creates it by locking USDC on one blockchain and issuing a matching token on another. Circle says bridged USDC is not issued by Circle and carries its own risks.

USDC on one blockchain cannot be sent straight to an address on another. Before you send USDC:

Check the network. Find out which blockchain the receiving wallet or platform expects for USDC.
Match it when you send. Choose that same network when you send or withdraw.
Keep some of the network’s own coin. Hold a little ETH on Ethereum or SOL on Solana to pay the network fee.
Send a small test first. Do this whenever the address is new to you, then send the rest.

A transfer on the wrong network can leave tokens where the recipient cannot reach them, and blockchain transactions cannot be reversed. Our guide to what a crypto wallet is explains where you can keep USDC.

Has USDC ever lost its peg?

Yes. In March 2023, USDC briefly fell well below $1 after the failure of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). This is known as losing the peg, or depegging.

SVB was closed on March 10, 2023. Circle said $3.3 billion of USDC reserves, about 8% of the total, was held there. Holders rushed to redeem, and USDC traded as low as about 86 cents, according to a Federal Reserve analysis. The price recovered after US authorities announced a backstop for SVB depositors on March 12, and fully recovered once Circle resumed processing redemptions on March 13.

The episode showed that a stablecoin backed by reserves still depends on the banks and assets that hold them. Past performance does not predict future results.

Can Circle freeze USDC?

Yes. Circle’s USDC terms let it block addresses that it believes may be linked to illegal activity or that break its terms, and freeze the USDC held there. Circle can also freeze USDC when a valid government authority orders it to.

This is a key difference from coins such as bitcoin, which no company issues. With USDC, the issuer keeps some control over the tokens, even after they reach your own wallet.

How do US and EU rules treat USDC?

USDC is covered by new stablecoin laws in both the US and the EU. The details are still changing, so check the date on anything you read about them.

United States. The GENIUS Act, signed on July 18, 2025, is the federal law for payment stablecoins such as USDC. It requires issuers to hold at least one dollar of approved reserves, such as cash and short-term US Treasury bills, for every token, and to publish the makeup of their reserves every month. As of September 2026, US regulators had published proposed rules to put the Act into practice, but no final rules.

European Union. Under MiCA, the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, a stablecoin tied to one official currency is called an e-money token. MiCA’s rules for these tokens have applied since June 30, 2024. As of September 2026, the interim MiCA register kept by ESMA, the EU markets authority, lists Circle Internet Financial Europe SAS, based in France, as an issuer of USDC and of EURC, Circle’s euro stablecoin, from July 1, 2024.

What is USDC used for?

People mainly use USDC to hold a dollar value on a blockchain without leaving crypto. Common uses include:

Trading. Many crypto platforms let you trade other coins against USDC, so traders can step out of a volatile coin without moving back to a bank account.
Moving money. USDC can be sent between wallets and platforms on the networks that support it, at any time of day.
Decentralized finance. Apps built on smart contracts use USDC for lending and trading. Our guide to what DeFi is covers the extra risks these apps carry.

What are the risks of holding USDC?

USDC is designed to be stable, but it still carries real risks. The main ones are:

Reserve and bank risk. The reserves sit in a fund and at banks. A problem there can hit the price, as it did in March 2023.
Price risk. The market price can move away from $1, and you may get less than $1 per coin when you sell.
Issuer control. Circle can freeze USDC held at specific addresses.
Network and bridge risk. Sending on the wrong network, or holding a bridged version, can lead to losses.
Redemption limits. Individuals cannot redeem directly with Circle, so they rely on platforms to sell.
Rule changes. Stablecoin laws in the US, the EU and elsewhere are still being written, and they can change where USDC is offered.
No deposit insurance. USDC is not a bank deposit. Circle’s USDC terms say it is not covered by FDIC deposit insurance.

Scammers also ask for payment in stablecoins. Never send USDC to someone who contacts you to “protect” or “recover” your funds, and read how to protect yourself from fraud.

How is USDC different from USDT?

Both aim to stay worth one US dollar, but they have different issuers, reserves and reports. Tether issues USDT and publishes a reserve attestation every quarter, while Circle issues USDC and publishes one every month. Our side-by-side guide to USDT vs USDC compares them in detail, and our guide to what Tether (USDT) is covers USDT on its own.

Dollar stablecoins can also stop being issued. Paxos, the issuer of BUSD, stopped minting new BUSD in February 2023. Our guide to what BUSD is tells that story.

No. USDC is a token that aims to be worth one US dollar. It is not a bank deposit, and its market price can move slightly above or below $1.

No stablecoin is free of risk. Circle publishes monthly reports on the reserves behind USDC, but USDC fell to about 86 cents in March 2023, and Circle can freeze tokens at specific addresses. Read the latest reserve report and weigh the risks before you hold it.

Not as an individual. Circle says Circle Mint, its service for creating and redeeming USDC, is for businesses and is not available to individuals. Individuals usually sell USDC on a crypto platform instead.

It is the same stablecoin from Circle, but the tokens live on different blockchains. You cannot send USDC on Ethereum straight to a Solana address, so always use the network the receiving wallet expects.

EURC is Circle’s euro stablecoin. It aims to stay worth one euro, and Circle says it can be redeemed 1:1 for euros through Circle. Like USDC, it appears in ESMA’s register of e-money token issuers (as of September 2026).

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