Fully reserved dollar token issued by Circle, a US-regulated and MiCA-compliant issuer. Reserves sit in the Circle Reserve Fund (short-dated Treasuries and repo) with monthly attestations and daily reporting.
Supply history
Safety score: 88/100 — Strong
Back reserves are transparent, redemption is direct, and the peg has held through stress.
Full methodology →- Collateral quality & transparency (30%)95
What actually backs the token and how often it is verified. Treasury-backed with daily or on-chain proof scores highest; unattested reserves score lowest.
- Peg stability (25%)73
Live deviation from $1.00 plus the worst historical depeg on record. A single deep depeg keeps weighing on the score.
- Liquidity depth (20%)83
Tracked on-chain pool liquidity in absolute dollars and as a share of circulating supply — how much can exit before the price moves.
- Issuer & legal structure (15%)100
Regulatory status of the issuer and whether holders have a direct redemption right or only a secondary market exit.
- Track record (10%)99
Years in production, minus documented incidents.
Issuer & structure
- Regulatory regime
- MiCA e-money tokenGENIUS-coveredsource
- Issuer
- CircleLEI254900…
- Jurisdiction
- United States (NYDFS / MiCA)
- Collateral
- treasuries
- Peg mechanism
- fiat-backed
- Attestation
- monthly
- Redemption
- direct
- Issuer can freeze balances
- Yes — issuer can freeze balances
- Attestor
- Deloitte
- Launched
- 2018
- Website
- Official site
Where to get USDC
Every venue that sells USD Coin, ranked by what a purchase actually costs once fees, spread and the withdrawal to your chain are counted.
Cheapest route: OKX — you receive about $998 of USDC from $1,000 (0.17% all-in, delivered on X Layer).
| Venue | Type | Fee | Spread | Withdrawal | All-in cost | You receive | Verified | Go |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exchange | 0.10% | 0.06% | $0 X Layer | $2 0.17% | $998 | 2026-08-05 stale — verify at checkout Fee accurate? | Buy on OKX | |
| Exchange | 0.10% | 0.05% | $0 BNB Chain | $2 0.18% | $998 | 2026-08-10 stale — verify at checkout Fee accurate? | Buy on Binance | |
| Exchange | 0.10% | 0.08% | $0 Mantle | $2 0.20% | $998 | 2026-07-30 stale — verify at checkout Fee accurate? | Buy on Bybit | |
| Exchange | 0.20% | 0.05% | $1 Solana | $3 0.30% | $997 | 2026-08-12 stale — verify at checkout Fee accurate? | Buy on Kraken | |
| Exchange | 0.30% | 0.10% | $1 Solana | $5 0.45% | $996 | 2026-08-08 stale — verify at checkout Fee accurate? | Buy on Bitstamp | |
| Exchange | 0.40% | 0.20% | $1 Solana | $7 0.65% | $994 | 2026-08-08 stale — verify at checkout Fee accurate? | Buy on Gemini | |
| Exchange | 0.60% | 0.50% | $0 Base | $11 1.10% | $989 | 2026-08-12 stale — verify at checkout Fee accurate? | Buy on Coinbase | |
| Neobank | 1.00% | 0.60% | $1 Polygon | $17 1.65% | $984 | 2026-07-25 stale — verify at checkout Fee accurate? | Buy on Wirex | |
| On-ramp | 0.99% | 0.90% | direct to wallet | $19 1.89% | $981 | 2026-08-11 stale — verify at checkout Fee accurate? | Buy on Transak | |
| Neobank | 1.49% | 0.50% | $1 Solana | $20 2.04% | $980 | 2026-08-06 stale — verify at checkout Fee accurate? | Buy on Revolut | |
| On-ramp | 1.00% + $4 | 1.00% | direct to wallet | $24 2.40% | $976 | 2026-08-11 stale — verify at checkout Fee accurate? | Buy on MoonPay | |
| On-ramp | 1.50% | 1.20% | direct to wallet | $27 2.70% | $973 | 2026-07-28 stale — verify at checkout Fee accurate? | Buy on Banxa |
Estimates built from published fee schedules — the final price is shown at venue checkout. Partner links never change this ranking.
Put it to work
Best rate on USDC from a protocol we would defend: over $100M TVL and more than a year live. Currently pareto-credit · Ethereum.
The tradeoff: smart-contract risk on top of issuer risk, and the rate can move any block.
All USDC yieldsAlternatives worth knowing
- Safer siblingUSDG +5 safety score
-72.7pp yield versus USDC, and less depth on some chains.
- Earning siblingREUSD 12.1% APY built in
Price drifts above $1 by design, redemption is T+X and transfers can be restricted.
- Cheaper to moveUSDC on Solana cents per transfer
Ethereum transfers of the same token cost dollars. Bridging across costs time, and Solana has thinner venue support.
Spend it
- Plasma One
Advertised up to 10%, paid in XPL
Visit Plasma One - Binance Card
Up to 8% with the largest BNB holdings; ~1% at the base level
Visit Binance Card - Wirex
Up to 8% in WXT, gated behind WXT staking tiers
Visit Wirex - Plutus
Up to 8% headline with PLU staking bundles
Visit Plutus
Incident history
- 2023-03Silicon Valley Bank exposure ($3.3B)−12.0%
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