Coinbase Invests in USDC Issuer Circle, Says Crypto Exchange Is Committed to Long-Term Success of Stablecoins

Top US crypto exchange by trading volume Coinbase is investing in the USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin issuer Circle.

Coinbase and Circle co-created USDC in 2018 and have jointly managed the asset, which aims to maintain a peg to the US dollar, through the Centre Consortium.

In a new announcement, however, Coinbase chief executive Brian Armstrong and Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire say that Circle will now bring all of USDC’s governance and operations responsibilities in-house.

Explain the CEOs,

“The new structure will streamline the operations and governance, and enhance the direct accountability of Circle as the issuer, including holding all the smart contract keys, complying with regulations on the governance of reserves and enabling USDC on new blockchains.”

Coinbase will also purchase an equity stake in Circle, according to Armstrong and Allaire.

“Coinbase and Circle will continue to generate revenue from USDC reserves interest income. Under the parties’ new arrangement, this revenue will continue to be shared based on the amount of USDC held on each of our platforms, and additionally, we will now equally share in interest income generated from the broader distribution and usage of USDC.”

Additionally, the CEOs note that USDC, the second-largest stablecoin by market cap, plans to launch on six new blockchains between September and October, though they did not specify which ones.

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