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USDC is a stablecoin issued by Circle whose goal is to always hold a value of $1. For every USDC in circulation, Circle states it holds one dollar of backing in reserves made up of cash and short-dated US Treasuries, largely custodied through the Circle Reserve Fund managed by BlackRock. It is not a crypto meant to appreciate but to hold its peg.

Circle publishes monthly attestations of its reserves performed by an auditing firm, and operates under money-transmitter licenses in the United States, having also adapted USDC to Europe's MiCA framework. That regulatory emphasis is its main differentiator versus other stablecoins, though it implies reliance on a centralized issuer and its decisions.

Although it aims to hold $1, USDC can temporarily lose the peg: in March 2023 it fell below $0.88 after it emerged that part of its reserves sat in the failed Silicon Valley Bank, recovering days later. Also, being a centralized token, Circle can freeze specific addresses by court or regulatory order, something impossible on decentralized cryptos.