In a significant move for the cryptocurrency world, Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle, the company behind the popular stablecoin USDC, revealed plans for USDC’s expansion to Base and Optimism blockchains. This announcement, made on August 29th, marked a milestone for the crypto community.
Circle’s initiative to broaden the utility of the stablecoin involves native integration into multiple blockchains, eliminating the reliance on bridged Ethereum tokens. This decision followed closely on the heels of Circle’s new super chain agreement with Optimism, demonstrating Circle’s deepening involvement in the Optimism collective’s daily operations.
The launch of two new variants on both mainnets took place earlier today, and these variants were constructed on the OP stack. This rollout aligns with Circle’s “Stable September” initiative, aiming to bolster USDC’s adoption by providing additional reassurances to developers and investors worldwide.
With un-bridged stablecoin now supported on both blockchains, bridged stablecoins are likely to be phased out in the future.
However, Circle has issued a stern warning to the community, urging them not to send USDC.e to Circle accounts as they are incompatible. Attempting to do so may lead to an irreversible loss of funds. Circle stated;
“Please do not attempt to send bridged USDC.e on OP/Base to your Circle Account, as it may not be recoverable and could result in a loss of funds. The Optimism Foundation will be working with ecosystem participants to help facilitate the migration from bridged USDC.e to native USDC.”
USDC Expanding to Multiple Blockchains
The expansion of the stablecoin onto Base and Optimism brings the total number of blockchains with native USDC support to 11. This move offers developers and businesses the opportunity to leverage the rapidly growing digital dollar across various ecosystems. In contrast, Tether, Circle’s major competitor, has made its USDT stablecoin available on only seven blockchains.
Despite a minor hiccup caused by Base’s temporary outage, lasting approximately two hours, the stablecoin launch proceeded without major issues reported thus far. This outage was the first on the network since its midsummer launch and fortunately did not impact users’ funds. A hotfix has been applied, and network activity has returned to normal, marking a smooth transition for the stablecoin into the Base and Optimism blockchains.
