USD Coin (USDC) is the second-largest fiat-backed stablecoin, issued by Circle, a US-registered financial-services firm. USDC is consciously positioned as the institutional and compliance-forward alternative to Tether, with monthly reserve reports, attestations from a Big Four firm (Deloitte), and a US regulatory footprint that includes the New York DFS BitLicense framework.
Reserves and disclosure
Reserves are held primarily in short-duration US Treasuries through the Circle Reserve Fund (a SEC- registered Government Money Market Fund managed by BlackRock), with a smaller cash buffer held at regulated US banks. Circle publishes weekly portfolio composition snapshots and monthly attestations.
Peg history
USDC’s most consequential depeg event was the March 2023 episode when ~$3.3B of Circle’s reserves were stranded at the collapsed Silicon Valley Bank. USDC traded as low as $0.87 over the weekend before the FDIC announced full deposit access. The peg fully restored within ~48 hours, and Circle has since diversified banking relationships and shifted reserves further toward the Treasury fund.
Regulatory posture
Circle is a US-registered Money Service Business and is preparing for European MiCA compliance through its Circle France entity. Of the major stablecoins, USDC has the strongest regulatory clarity in the US and EU.
How to use the confidence chart
USDC’s baseline confidence sits in the 80–90 range during calm periods. Sustained dips below 70 are unusual and have historically corresponded to banking-system events. Sharp single-day spikes in depeg-keyword chatter without peg deviation are usually fear contagion from other stablecoin events rather than USDC-specific problems. Research only — not a solvency rating.