Welcome to the Era of Open Money: Circle Launches 2024 State of the USDC Economy Report

As the global reach and impact of open money continues to gain pace - the number of on-chain wallets now holding at least $10 in USDC grew nearly 60% in the last year - 2024 marks a moment of critical inflection for the internet financial system

DAVOS, Switzerland, and BOSTON, January 15 2024 - Circle, a global financial technology firm and the issuer of the leading regulated stablecoin, USDC, is proud to unveil its second annual State of the USDC Economy Report, entitled ‘Welcome to the Era of Open Money.’

The State of the USDC Economy Report serves as a comprehensive overview of the dynamic landscape surrounding the company’s digital dollar - including adoption trends and the global regulatory context for payment stablecoins. The report provides an in-depth analysis of the burgeoning internet financial system, with a focus on the concept of open money and the increasing significance of programmable payments. The “era of open money” signals a profound paradigm shift for global finance, in which financial value flows as seamlessly, cost-effectively, and instantaneously as other forms of data on the internet.

Fast Facts | USDC: The Dollar’s New Form Factor

• The number of USDC wallets with a balance of at least $10 has grown 59% in the past year alone to a total of about 2.7 million.
  
  
• Since its introduction in 2018, USDC has been used to settle over $12 trillion in blockchain transactions.

• Circle facilitated more than $197 billion of transfers between the banking system and blockchain networks through minting and redeeming in 2023.

• USDC facilitated 595 million transactions from January through the end of November 2023.

• Circle’s Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP), which helps reduce friction, increase safety and security, and reduce costs when sending USDC from one blockchain to another, has facilitated 66,500 transactions since release in April 2023.

• USDC's open technology is currently available on 15 different blockchains.

• USDC not only settles faster than traditional forms of payments, but it is also cheaper. Even on Ethereum, which is recognized for occasionally high gas fees, the average cost per transaction with USDC was less than 1% of the transaction in 2023. On other blockchain networks, such as Solana, it was less than a tenth of a percent.
  
  
• "This year’s report sheds light on the transformative power of USDC in enhancing financial inclusion and access, as well as our efforts to build the most widely-used open money network in the world," said Jeremy Allaire, Co-founder and CEO of Circle. “While we are still in the early stages of this mission, this year’s State of the USDC Economy Report details a set of unequivocal indicators for growing momentum. As regulatory clarity for stablecoins continues to emerge across every major financial market center, and as mainstream financial institutions, fintechs, internet firms and enterprises begin adopting this technology, USDC is poised to play a central role in the new internet financial system.”

A Dollar API for Internet Finance

Featuring case studies with some of the world's most prominent financial service providers and technology leaders, including Visa, MoneyGram, Grab, Nubank, Stripe, Worldpay from FIS, and others, this year's edition of the report presents compelling insights into the pivotal role of USDC in streamlining global finance. The report also highlights how USDC is disrupting remittances, cross-border payments, aid disbursement and charitable giving, as well as how it is providing a stable store of value to mitigate the adverse effects of high inflation.

"For over five years, USDC has been at the forefront of driving world-scale open payments to lower the bottom rung of economic mobility. Together with forward-looking regulators and global partners, we are paving the way towards a more equitable, inclusive, and promising future," said Dante Disparte, Circle's Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Global Policy.

This year's report is viewable for public access via a dynamic landing page interface, and also downloadable in PDF format.