This Coinbase Feature Could Make USDC A Universal Currency

Crypto exchange Coinbase wants to boost the adoption of stablecoin USDC. The company will support free trading commissions for users buying the digital asset. According to an official announcement, the new feature is available for any fiat currency on the crypto exchange from “AUD to ZAR.” 

In 2018, Coinbase and U.S.-based fintech Circle partnered to create the Centre Consortium, the company behind the development of USDC. In the United States, the digital asset has seen good levels of adoption, with its market cap growing 150x over the past three years, as seen in the chart below. 

However, the digital asset hasn’t seen much adoption outside the United States. The crypto exchange believes this lack of adoption is due to a “barrier” created by high fees in converting local fiat currency into the stablecoin. 

Their newest feature aims to make USDC available for Coinbase users worldwide and make the stablecoin a universally adopted digital asset. The company said:

(…) users usually have to pay fees in the process of converting their local currency into USDC, and this is a barrier to broader international adoption. The way to correct this, and accelerate adoption of USDC internationally, is by establishing global parity for all users. (…) from the date of this announcement, Coinbase will waive commission fees when customers buy or sell USDC via any fiat currency on Coinbase.

Coinbase Wants To Push Into USDC’s “Untapped” Potential

The crypto exchange believes that USDC and stablecoins are critical assets for expanding the crypto industry and its sector. Their newest feature might be able to remove friction from the process of acquiring stablecoins to transact with decentralized finances (DeFi) and other “innovative solutions” in the nascent space. 

In that sense, Coinbase is looking to tap into USDC’s previously untapped potential and onboard more users to drive a new wave of crypto adoption. The company claims that USDC is secure, stable, and cheaper than traditional assets on legacy payment rails. 

In addition, the stablecoin allows users to send and receive funds at any point during the day, with a fast settlement and lower cost. The company hints at USDC being an improvement over legacy payment rails, banks, and other entities with the power to continue playing a vital role in the nascent space: 

We firmly believe that USDC and other stablecoins will play an increasingly significant role as the fiat on-ramp to the new web3 ecosystem. Improving the ease of fiat-to-crypto transactions will pave the way for even more users to access DeFi.

The new Coinbase feature will only be available for selected regions. Although users won’t have to pay for fees related to the crypto exchange, they will have to pay for spread, and processing fees, according to the announcement.