Circle Internet Financial, the issuer of USD Coin (USDC), announced on June 16 the launch of Euro Coin (EUROC), a stablecoin pegged to the euro, which will be available to the masses from June 30.
The Euro Coin is a regulated, euro-backed stablecoin which shares the same full-reserve model as USDC. It is built upon the USD Coin's concepts of transparency and security.
Euro Coin will facilitate and bridge crypto-native and traditional financial services. The coin is fully backed by euro-denominated reserves held in the custody of leading financial organisations within the US’ regulatory perimeter, starting with the Silvergate Bank.
Businesses can use the token for high-speed Euro transactions across the globe, access the crypto capital markets for borrowing, lending, trading etc., and move euro liquidity on-chain.
Circle is a financial technology company enabling businesses to utilise digital assets and public blockchains for commerce and financial applications globally.
Euro coin is Circle’s second digital currency after the widely accepted and trusted USDC, which has a circulation of over $54 billion as of June 15, 2022. According to Jeremy Allaire, the CEO and co-founder of Circle, “Circle has set industry-leading standards for moving financial value across the internet with USDC.”
He added, “There is clear market demand for a digital currency denominated in euros, the world’s second most traded currency after the US dollar. With USDC and Euro Coin, Circle is helping unlock a new era of fast, inexpensive, secure and interoperable value exchange worldwide.”
Euro Coin will be first launched on the Ethereum Blockchain and will be an ERC-20 standard token. It will work with compatible wallets, protocols and other blockchain products and services. Support for additional blockchains is expected to launch later this year.
The token’s launch will be grand and supported by several ecosystem leaders like Anchorage Digital, Binance.US, Bitstamp, Curve, Compound, CYBAVO, Fireblocks, and Huobi.
Euro coin and USDC aim to unlock new opportunities for on-change foreign exchange and multi-currency digital finance, facilitating smooth, fast and inexpensive transactions.
The writer is the founder at yMedia. He ventured into crypto in 2013 and is an ETH maximalist. Twitter: @bhardwajshash