USD Coin (USDC), a popular stablecoin pegged to the US dollar, has launched on Base and Optimism, two prominent Layer-2 scaling solutions for the Ethereum network. This integration aims to address the high transaction costs and slow processing times on the Ethereum blockchain, providing users with a seamless and efficient experience. By leveraging Base and Optimism’s capabilities, USDC transactions can now be executed faster and at lower fees, making it more accessible and practical for various decentralized applications (dApps) and users. This move is expected to further enhance the utility and adoption of USDC in the ever-expanding Ethereum ecosystem.
The Expansion of USDC: Base and Optimism Now Support Native USDC
On August 29th, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire announced that the popular stablecoin USDC would be coming to Base and Optimism within a week. This move is part of Circle’s plan to enhance the utility of USDC by bringing it to more blockchains in its native token form. By eliminating the need for bridged Ethereum tokens, Circle aims to streamline and improve the experience for developers and users.
Native Support and Stable September
The two new variants of USDC have already gone live on both Base and Optimism’s mainnets. Built on the OP stack, these launches are a part of Circle’s Stable September initiative. The goal of this initiative is to drive adoption of USDC by providing additional assurances to developers and investors worldwide.
With the introduction of un-bridged USDC on these blockchains, the bridged USDC stablecoins are expected to be deprecated in the future. This transition will further optimize the usage and functionality of USDC.
Benefits for Developers and Businesses
The expansion of USDC to Base and Optimism brings the total number of blockchains with native support for the stablecoin to 11. This means that developers and businesses now have more options to leverage the benefits of the rapidly growing digital dollar across multiple ecosystems. In comparison, Tether, one of Circle’s main competitors, has made its USDT stablecoin available on 7 blockchains.
Despite a temporary outage on the Base network, which lasted for about two hours, the launch of USDC on both Base and Optimism went smoothly with no major issues reported. The Base network has applied a hotfix to address the infrastructure problem, and network activity has returned to normal.
Circle’s team has also cautioned the community against sending USDC.e to Circle accounts, as they are not compatible. Doing so could result in a loss of funds. The Optimism Foundation is working with ecosystem participants to facilitate the migration from bridged USDC.e to native USDC.
Conclusion
The expansion of USDC’s native support to Base and Optimism demonstrates Circle’s commitment to enhancing the functionality and accessibility of its stablecoin. By expanding to more blockchains, Circle aims to provide developers and businesses with a seamless experience and help drive the widespread adoption of USDC in the digital asset ecosystem.
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