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- Stellar Lumens’ Development Foundation has announced the USDC launch for February 2021.
- Design of the version of USDC issued on Stellar will be associated with its specific use cases.
In a recent publication, the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) has answered questions about the upcoming USD Coin (USDC) launch of the Stellar Lumens blockchain. With a target date for the first quarter of 2021, specifically February, the SDF recognizes that this event will have a positive impact on the ecosystem. The SDF stated:
We’re very excited about what this means for the Stellar ecosystem of businesses and developers. The ecosystem is excited, too, and a ton of inquiries about USDC have been popping up across Stellar-related channels.
In mid-October, the SDF made the announcement of the integration of USD Coin on the Stellar blockchain – followed by a partnership with CENTRE, the issuing company of USDC, formed by crypto industry giants Coinbase and Circle. As announced then, the USDC issuance on Stellar is part of CENTRE’s diversification strategy.
CENTRE aims to make USDC less dependent of the Ethereum blockchain. Therefore, they have made partnerships to deploy USDC on Stellar, Algorand, Solana, among others, as part of their multi-chain USDC framework. After Tether, USDC is the second largest stablecoin with a market capitalization of $2.3 billion.
Implications of the USDC launch on Stellar Lumens
The SDF publication focuses on how developers and businesses will be able to use the USDC to integrate it into their applications and services. They will be able to allow users to make deposits and withdrawals, trade, or simply hold USDC. In addition, the SDF reveals that the version of USDC released on Stellar will have a design tied to specific use cases:
Stellar, which is designed to connect all the world’s currencies on a single platform, unlocks a whole new realm of payment-related applications for USDC.
The multi-chain framework contemplates that all blockchains that will house Stellar will have a design associated with the platform’s benefits. Therefore, users can expect variations in the use cases for the other blockchains that will offer USDC.
In order to facilitate the transition from USDC_eth to USDC_Stellar, developers will have a multi-chain swap service. This service will be free of charge and will be enabled, according to the SDF, for the USDC issued on Stellar to “meet the high standards” of CENTRE in terms of security funds offer to their users:
It has proven adoption and deep global liquidity across countries and platforms, which make it an optimal asset for use in cross-border transactions. Fundamentally, it will make it easier to build apps and services that provide reliable access to tokenized USD to businesses and consumers all over the world.
Furthermore, Circle will enable free business accounts for USDC_Stellar users. This will allow developers access to the API and GUI. SDF says there are already many businesses waiting to use USDC as a gateway to easily offer their services in applications and wallets.
