• USDC stablecoin saw a frenzy of activity on Feb. 10, 2023 with many billions worth of tokens burned and minted resulting in an increase in supply of $148 million.
• Coinbase played a key role in the activity burning and minting billions of tokens again within hours.
• The exchange withdrew $56 million more from Circle than it deposited that day as part of their campaign to encourage users to switch from Tether (USDT) to USDC.
USDC Frenzy
The USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin has seen a frenzy of activity on Feb. 10, 2023, with many billions worth of the stablecoin burned and minted on the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain for an increase in USDC supply on the blockchain of $148 million.
Coinbase’s Role
Coinbase — a major United States-based publicly-traded cryptocurrency exchange — has seemingly played a key role in the inexplicable activity burning and minting billions of tokens again within hours. This one institution alone received a total of $4.731 billion worth of USDC — more than was minted on the ethereum blockchain on that day. Furthermore, Coinbase also deposited to its Circle deposit address $4.675 billion — more than was burnt on that day — in 29 transactions on Feb. 10, 2023 and overall withdrew $56 million more from Circle than it deposited that day.
Campaign Encouraging Users To Switch From Tether(USDT)
This report follows Coinbase launching a campaign to encourage users to switch from Tether (USDT) to USDC by waiving all conversion fees. In its campaign announcement, Coinbase described USDC as the “most widely used stablecoin” and encouraged customers to use it instead due to its low transaction fees and fast transaction speeds compared to other cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC).
Data From Top Crypto Data Provider
Despite partial data available, blockchain data shows that the value of USDC tokens on the Ethereum blockchain was altered significantly by Circle with the burning of $4,286 billion and the minting of $4.434 billion — for an increase in supply of $148 million on Feb 10th, 2023 . It is possible to conclude that the overall supply likely did not fluctuate more than usual based on data from top crypto data provider CoinMarketCap which shows that USDC’s market cap increased from a mid-day low before falling back down slightly later in the day .
Conclusion
The USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin has seen much activity recently following Coinbase’s encouraging users to switch from Tether(USDT) by waiving all conversion fees due its low transaction fees and fast transaction speeds compared to other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin(BTC). Despite partial data available regarding burning/minting activities ,the overall supply likely did not fluctuate more than usual based off data provided by top crypto provider CoinMarketCap which showed slight changes throughout the day due likely fluctuations in value currently priced at 0$.9999