Coinbase, the United States-based cryptocurrency exchange, has said the adoption of USD Coin has been “more conservative” outside of the US, which it believes is a result of international currency conversion fees.
It has been reported that the exchange said there is currently three times more USDC bought with US dollars as compared to other currencies.
Coinbase stated:
“Currently, 3x more USDC is bought with USD versus non-USD currencies. In part this is because, outside of the US, 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.”
However, the US dollar-pegged cryptocurrency is currently the second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization under Tether. Coinbase said it sees the utility of stablecoins such as USDC benefitting residents in countries requiring a coin that doesn’t fluctuate in value, is highly accessible, and gives access to decentralized finance (DeFi).
Coinbase said it is aiming to “build more on-ramps for users to access USDC,” and will be waiving fees for all customers who buy or sell USDC using any fiat currency. In 2018, Coinbase along with payments technology company Circle partnered to create the Centre Consortium to develop USDC, which currently is the second-largest stablecoin behind Tether and the fourth-largest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization.
Stablecoins such as USDC is seen as a cheaper and faster alternative compared to traditional remittance systems for sending value between parties. A recent report by Chainalysis shows the use of stablecoins for remittances as a key factor driving crypto adoption in Latin America.
Thus, the move by Coinbase is the latest in efforts to increase the adoption of USDC, in September, Circle announced it would roll out the stablecoin across five additional blockchains including Polkadot, Optimism, Near, Arbitrum, and Cosmos.
Source: Cointelegraph
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