Coinme, a cryptocurrency cash exchange in the U.S., and Circle, a global internet finance firm and the issuer of USD Coin (USDC), recently announced at Consensus 2022 a strategic collaboration “to integrate USDC into Coinme’s global cash onramp and offramp ecosystem.”
The integration “promotes financial inclusion by enabling borderless digital cash to be accessible across thousands of locations worldwide, making it simple and affordable to cash in, cash out and send USDC.”
Neil Bergquist, CEO and co-founder of Coinme, said:
“The crypto industry is leading the charge to make a better, more equitable financial system. We are working with Circle to integrate USDC into our network, allowing anyone with cash to access it at convenient locations in their neighborhood,”
Bergquist added:
“We aim to make money better for the unbanked and banked by enabling people to utilize the power of blockchain technologies. In collaboration with Circle, the Stellar Development Foundation, and our cash and retail partners, we will enable people to upload their dollars and send them like a text message to nearly any phone in the world.”
As noted in the update, Coinme claims it is the largest cryptocurrency cash network “with a growing footprint of over 21,000 locations nationwide.”
The ability to cash in and out of USDC will be “available at thousands of Coinme-enabled locations in the U.S. and, soon, throughout Latin America.”
This integration will “offer 79 million Americans and 70% of Latin Americans who are unbanked or underbanked a new option to access a vital pathway into digital finance and financial inclusion.”
USDC is one of “the world’s fastest-growing, fully-reserved dollar digital assets, with a market capitalization standing at more than $53 billion and supporting more than $1.9 trillion in on-chain transactions as of June 7, 2022.”
Sending USDC via the Coinme App is free “for peer-to-peer transactions and provides near-instant payments to family and friends wherever they may reside.”
Additionally, Coinme will “enable convenient cash pickup locations for an easy transaction to cash out of USDC.”
These peer-to-peer stablecoin payments will “allow anyone to experience the benefits of payment infrastructure innovations like USDC.”
Jeremy Allaire, co-founder and CEO of Circle, remarked:
“Access to frictionless, fast, low-cost payments and remittances is critical to helping improve barriers to financial inclusion. What makes this integration so exciting is that it enables digital money to be easily accessible, understandable, and economical for the general public – including the unbanked and underbanked – to participate in a more open platform for financial services.”
To enable low-cost and fast USDC transactions, Coinme will “offer USDC on the Stellar network.”
USDC on Stellar “provides near-zero transaction fees and settlement of transactions in seconds.”
The Stellar network is “powered by the Stellar Consensus Protocol, ensuring USDC sent via Coinme is secure via a decentralized network.”
Denelle Dixon, CEO of Stellar Development Foundation, added:
“With Stellar’s growing ecosystem of wallets and exchanges supporting USDC on Stellar, Coinme will power another critical access point for consumers to easily and affordably participate in the digital economy by offering global cash on/off ramps.”
The service will “begin rolling out in June 2022.”
For additional information and to receive updates on the availability of the service and locations launching, check here.