Circle regarding its USDC crypto

Circle, the peer-to-peer payments technology company, spoke at the WEF, World Economic Forum, about its native crypto, the USDC stablecoin, arguing that it represents “a dollar with super powers.” 

In addition, Circle argued how important it is right now to restore the crypto narrative along a clear path: inclusive growth. It is worth keeping in mind that Circle was founded by Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville in October 2013 and that it issues, precisely, the USDC stablecoin. 

Circle about USDC crypto and the importance of the WEF

As anticipated, USD Coin (USDC) founder Circle attended the World Economic Forum (WEF) to explain why USDC is a dollar with superpowers. Specifically, the WEF took place between 16 and 20 January 2023 in Davos and hosted more than 1,500 industry leaders and government representatives from around the world.

According to Circle’s announcement, the event was of primary importance to the company. Circle said it used the WEF platform to reset the crypto narrative with an emphasis on inclusive growth, sustainability, and use cases rooted in the utility value of USDC and blockchain technology. 

Furthermore, Circle engaged in more than a dozen conversations with WEF participants in which it summarized the evolution of money and regulatory approaches to cryptocurrencies that promote responsible innovation. Indeed, Circle said it emphasized its vision that the future of money should include everyone. 

As for the crypto USDC, according to Circle’s “State of the USDC Economy” report released on 17 January, circulating USDC has grown from zero to $45 billion in four years. It is the native currency of eight blockchains, supported by wallets from 190 different countries and has more than 200 built-in protocols.

Almost a year ago, in February 2022, USDC began to increase its share in the stablecoin market and began to challenge the dominance of Tether (USDT). USDC has continued to grow its presence among stablecoins despite the bearish market, according to research by CryptoSlate dated 10 January 2023. 

Based on the data from 10 January, USDC currently holds more transfer volume, while USDT remains the largest stablecoin in the market.

Circle’s statements in Davos, not just about the USDC crypto 

The World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos provides a unique opportunity to set the agenda and build a reputation with government delegations, industry leaders, NGOs, and the media. In particular, Josh Hawkins, SVP of Strategic Positioning and Global Thought Leadership, said: 

“Our work over the past week has shown that Circle isn’t just surviving the cryptocurrency winter – we’re building a next-generation payment technology and marketplace infrastructure that solves real-world problems, empowers businesses, and empowers millions of people around the world.”

This acceleration in utility value is an inescapable conclusion of Circle’s inaugural USDC State of the Economy report, as Jeremy Allaire writes in the report’s preface: 

“Across nearly every metric and trend, the USDC economy is growing, healthy, and on track to become a major force in facilitating internet-scale economic activity, reaching people and markets that wouldn’t be possible if getting funded depended on fixed infrastructure or enclosed financial gardens.”

To illustrate these trends, Circle hosted over a dozen conversations with industry and government leaders. In particular, as anticipated above, explaining why USDC is a superpower dollar. 

Then, he traced the evolution of money, outlined regulatory approaches that promote responsible innovation and protect consumers, and showed Circle’s social impact, rooted in the belief that the future of money should include everyone. 

Dante Disparte, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Global Policy at Circle, noted: 

“We hope that WEF 2023 will be seen as a game changer for the industry, as we have decisively moved away from speculative value and leaned towards utility value. Because despite all the ecosystem failures in 2022, cryptography and blockchains will continue to be an integral part of the modern economic toolkit.”

In conclusion, Davos was more than a conference for Circle. It was an opportunity to set a tone of hope and an ambitious agenda for the year. Indeed, while creating momentum in 2023 for real-world use cases of moving money at high speed and at the scale of the Internet, it never loses sight of its mission to increase global economic prosperity through the frictionless exchange of value.

USDC growing from $0 to $45 billion in circulation in four years

According to Circle’s report, USDC’s strong and impactful growth is not something the company could have done on its own. Indeed, Circle has always preferred to work closely with developers and innovators who are committed to leveraging digital dollars on open public and blockchain to reinvent money, payments and finance.

Specifically, when Circle first launched USDC in 2018, it did so with the support of 30 exchanges, protocols, platforms, applications, and wallets. So, there have been a number of milestones in terms of the growth and quality of the USDC Ecosystem that deserve attention. 

For instance, the fact that USDC is now natively available on eight blockchains, each with their own distinct characteristics and qualities, and is the dominant digital dollar on many of the top 10 blockchains by total locked value as of December 2022.

In addition, wallets around the world have enabled support for USDC, so that USDC can be used to send, spend and save in more than 190 countries. Furthermore, there are more than 200 protocols integrated with USDC, giving users the ability to leverage USDC to donate to charitable causes, lend and borrow, trade, buy NFTs, and more. 

Finally, Blockchain-based games and platforms such as Big Time, Axie Infinity, Blockade Games, and NBA Top Shot integrate seamlessly with USDC.