Circle, the issuer of dollar-based stablecoin USDC, has published a blog post, authored by COO Elisabeth Carpenter, touting its resilience during a challenging period in the crypto markets. As certain platforms fumble or shutter redemptions, Circle is giving the all-clear sign stating that it continues to grow and plans to hire in the coming months – contrast to certain other Fintechs that are currently cutting employee headcount:
“Circle has hired hundreds of employees since the beginning of the year and has plans to continue to hire strategically over the next 18 months. In short, we will grow, crypto winter or not. “
Carpenter reports that USDC has “grown significantly” having “more than doubled” its circulation in the past year to $55 billion.
USDC is the second most popular stablecoin after Tether which currently has a market cap of $67.85 billion versus USDC at $55.9 billion (according to Coinmarketcap). While Tether has endured questions about its reserves in the past – something the company has been working to address – Circle has long pursued a regulated approach and is, in fact, pursuing a federal bank charter in an effort to step up assurance in its platform. Carpenter shares that USDC has grown by a whopping $3 billion in the past month alone – probably taking some capital from competitors.
Carpenter states:
“All of this is possible because trust and transparency are the hallmarks of our business. USDC is fully reserved with short-dated US Treasuries (~80%) and cash (~20%), denominated in US dollars, and held directly with leading US financial institutions and custodians within the US regulatory perimeter. Short-duration US Treasuries are the safest, most price stable, most liquid assets available in the world – they have the highest credit rating and the deepest trading markets (trading over $650 billion each day).
The USDC reserve, which is reported as part of Circle’s financial statements, has been audited annually…”
In many respects, USDC is more of a modern method for payments and transfers, with less friction and a lower cost in contrast to credit card payments.