Circle Introduced High-Yield USDC Accounts: Report

The company behind the second-biggest stablecoin Circle introduced high-yield USDC accounts for businesses. The API will allow them to embed the accounts into their products so we can even expect an increase in the price of the stablecoin as well but let’s first learn more about the new accounts in our USDC news.

USDC exploded over the past year and its market cap approaching $3 billion. As the USD coin boomed and become the world’s second-biggest stablecoin, Circle is trying to maintain momentum. The digital asset company behind the USDC stablecoin in a collaboration with Coinbase, announced plans today for the new-high yield accounts along with the APIs that allow businesses to set them up for their own customers. According to the Circle website, the stablecoin starts at 8.5% APY and can increase to 10.75% in a 12-month fixed term. the interest will accrue daily and will be paid weekly.

Circle is planning to introduce short and medium term high yield interest rate business accounts built entirely on #USDC. Starting at 8% APY, make sure to secure a spot on the waitlist today. https://t.co/rAjbWRTDrB Restrictions will apply.

— Circle (@circlepay) November 5, 2020

The announcement came on the heels of a big year for USDC and for the wider space of stablecoins. USDC’s market cap is around $2.87 billion today and it was just $460 million a year ago so it shows that the growth is a faster rate than Tether, its biggest competitor. Both stablecoins have become popular options for traders that are looking to avoid market volatility as they are storing money. USDC is pegged to the US dollar so each coin is collateralized by an actual US dollar which Circle holds onto so the price of one coin is always more or less equal to $1.00.

As Circle introduced the new accounts, we can see the coin rising more. The stablecoin took off in March during the wake of COVID-19 suggesting that some investors are becoming inclined towards stability in the crypto space. Circle’s introduction of the new lending protocols over the past summer offered rewards for customers who staked USDC that have had a role in growing the stablecoin’s market cap. In October, Circle announced that USDC will be expanding from the ETH and Algorand blockchains to Solana and Stellar.

A post on the Circle website says that yield generation for this new USDC account is offered through Genesis Global Capital and that the accounts are not available yet so the business can sign up early via a waitlist. Circle initially started offering business accounts with APIs back in March. CEO of the platform Jeremy Allaire said:

 “Our goal with Circle Business Accounts and Circle APIs is to simplify things so that a company can [set up] and begin using an account with the same ease that they might open a business bank account.  Companies should be able to easily upload their dollars to the internet, convert them into digital currency dollars and start storing and using stablecoins for everyday payments.”