Cryptocurrencies

Algorand becomes an official blockchain for USDC

Algorand is now an official blockchain for USD Coin (USDC). The newly released mainnet implementation of USDC for Algorand is available today, and becomes the second major blockchain after Ethererum with native support for USDC.

The Algorand blockchain is often complimented for efficient and scalable transactions, both of which Ethereum has suffered with in 2020.

Specifically, Algorand brings over 1,000 tps and transaction fees of 1/20th of a cent to the USDC ecosystem, and soon to be released innovations from Algorand offer the potential of scaling throughput by 8-10x on Layer 1, accompanied by new secure smart contracts that complement standard tokens such as USDC.

This expanding support for USDC on new blockchains comes as USDC has rapidly grown to over 1.8 billion in circulation, experiencing more than 3x growth in the past six months.

The Centre Multichain USDC Framework establishes a rigorous set of criteria for the issuance and operation of USDC on new blockchains, while also supporting innovation and experimentation by third-party developers and blockchain platforms. Algorand is the first blockchain platform to achieve the highest level of certification as an official chain for USDC, and will be an excellent addition to the Centre multi-stakeholder ecosystem.

“This is a defining milestone for frictionless mainstream payments as well as sophisticated financial applications,” said Silvio Micali, Founder of Algorand. “By bringing together an advanced protocol designed from the ground up for global financial exchange with the convenience of USDC, this launch breaks down barriers for widespread adoption.”

Alesia Haas, Chief Financial Officer at Coinbase, added: “Expanding USDC from Ethereum to additional blockchains like Algorand will ensure USDC has the flexibility to support everything from emerging DeFi projects to large-scale financial institutions. Today’s launch represents a significant improvement to USDC’s scalability, improving its utility and making it a significantly more useful protocol for solving real-world financial problems”

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Oliver Knight

Londoner ‘Ollie’ graduated from Birmingham City University with a journalism degree in 2016. He combines his writing with his love of crypto and blockchain here at Coin Rivet, saying “It disrupts well-established institutions (banks) while giving an avenue to the less fortunate to achieve financial freedom.” Like all true Londoners, his pet hate is… “People standing on the left-hand side of the escalators on the Tube!”.