TL;DR
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USDC’s market cap is up 14.3% since December 1, 2023 (sitting at ~$28B) thanks to an overall rise in crypto trading volume, and a push from Binance.
Full Story
So, we know no one asked, but, USDC has been doing super well lately.
Like, its market cap is up 14.3% since December 1, 2023 (sitting at ~$28B).
On the flip side, USDT, the biggest stablecoin on the block, is only up 8.7% (still maintaining a cool $98B market cap though).
We thought “Huh, why is USDC doing better when all stablecoins are basically the same?”
So for funzies, let’s dive in:
Stablecoins are all virtually the same.
They’re meant to be a form of crypto which has almost no volatility by pegging the coin against some outside currency (e.g. USD, EUR, GBP).
In this instance: USDC is pegged to (you guessed it) the US dollar — so 1 $USDC should always equal $1 USD.
So if they’re all basically equal, what’s the real difference?
Honestly, it’s as simple as availability and liquidity.
More people are buying USDC → which means more people are using/trading it → making it more widely available.
Which is the name of the game for stablecoins — cause if no one will accept your coin, it ain’t going to survive!
USDC’s growth comes mostly thanks to the rise in crypto trading volume, a push from Binance, and — dare we say it — a bit of good ol’ fashioned branding.
(Circle, who run USDC, are wildly transparent about their reserves and audits).
Alright, now you know!
