Try Quests to earn AXLINTRODUCTION
What Is USD Coin (USDC)?
USD Coin (known by its ticker USDC) is a stablecoin that is pegged to the U.S. dollar on a 1:1 basis. Every unit of this cryptocurrency in circulation is backed up by $1 that is held in reserve, in a mix of cash and short-term U.S. Treasury bonds. The Centre consortium, which is behind this asset, says USDC is issued by regulated financial institutions.
The stablecoin originally launched on a limited basis in September 2018. Put simply, USD Coin’s mantra is “digital money for the digital age” — and the stablecoin is designed for a world where cashless transactions are becoming more common.
Several use cases have been unveiled for the USD Coin. As well as providing a safe haven for crypto traders in times of volatility, those behind the stablecoin say it can also allow businesses to accept payments in digital assets, and shake up an array of sectors including decentralized finance and gaming.
Overall, the goal is to create an ecosystem where USDC is accepted by as many wallets, exchanges, service providers and dApps as possible.
Who Are the Founders of USD Coin?
The Centre Consortium has two founding members. One of them is the peer-to-peer payment services company Circle, while the other is the Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange. Other crypto ventures are open to join this consortium.
Explaining the rationale behind USDC, Circle co-founders Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville wrote: “We believe that an open internet of value exchange can transform and integrate the world more deeply, eventually eliminating artificial economic borders and enabling a more efficient and inclusive global marketplace that connects every person on the planet.”
In 2020, Circle and Coinbase collectively announced a major upgrade to USDC’s protocol and smart contract. The goal of these enhancements is to make it easier for USD Coin to be used for everyday payments, commerce and peer-to-peer transactions.
What Makes USD Coin (USDC) Unique?
The stablecoin market has become exceedingly crowded over recent years — but USD Coin has aimed to stand head and shoulders over competitors in several ways.
One of them concerns transparency — and giving users the assurance that they will be able to withdraw 1 USDC and receive $1 in return without any issues. To this end, it says a major accounting firm is tasked with verifying the levels of cash that are held in reserve, and ensuring this matches up with the number of tokens in circulation.
Unlike some crypto ventures, Circle and Coinbase have also achieved regulatory compliance — and this has helped pave the way for international expansion. Both projects are also well-funded, giving the stablecoin certainty.
Coinbase briefly contemplated diversifying the funds backing USDC, but retracted that proposal after heavy community backlash. The transparency over the provenance of its funds has been a big reason for USDC's success. Unlike its rival USDT, which has found itself embroiled in repeated investigations, USDC has never been accused of any wrongdoing. That has led to USDC gobbling up much of USDT's dominance in the stablecoin market: although USDT commanded a 74%:16% lead in market share in February 2021, this has shrunk to a 45%:30% lead in February 2022.
How Much Is Held in USD Coin Asset Reserves?
Following the collapse of TerraUSD, stablecoin issuers have been under intense scrutiny over the quality of the reserves backing their tokens. In a transparency move, Circle Internet Financial LLC (Circle), the issuer of the USDC stablecoin released its reserves report as of July 31, 2022.
According to the report, the total USDC reserves held by the company consist of $42.3 billion worth of US Treasury Securities and total cash deposits of $12.2 billion. The monthly reserve report was issued by leading global accounting firm Grant Thornton.
The accounting firm later released an independent attestation dated August 24, 2022. It reads:
“In our opinion, the Reserve Information in the accompanying USDC Reserve Report as of July 31, 2022 is fairly stated, based on the criteria set forth in the USDC Reserve Report, in all material respects.”
World’s Largest Asset Manager Shows Interest in USD Coin
In a seemingly loosely regulated space, USDC has continued to distinguish itself from other stablecoin projects by forging ties with traditional financial institutions.
Following a $400 million funding round, which saw participation from BlackRock, Fidelity, Fin Capital, and Marshall Wace LLP, BlackRock revealed that it had “entered into a broader strategic partnership with Circle, which includes exploring capital market applications for USDC.”
In addition to partnering with the world’s largest asset manager, the stablecoin provider has inked other deals with big names from the world of traditional finance. In March, news broke that America’s oldest bank BNY Mellon would serve as the primary custodian of the assets backing USDC stablecoins. Meanwhile, a press release revealed that BlackRock will serve as a primary asset manager of USDC cash reserves.
Sum Amount
Average Amount
Count of Wallet
Ethereum
Table:
ethereum.core.ez_token_transfers
Where condition:
block_timestamp::date > current_date() - interval '{{TimePeriod}} {{PeriodType}}'
and symbol = 'USDC'
Sum Amount
Average Amount
Count of Wallet
Solana
Table:
solana.core.fact_token_prices_hourly
solana.core.fact_transfers
Where condition:
block_timestamp::date > current_date() - interval '{{TimePeriod}} {{PeriodType}}'
and mint = 'EPjFWdd5AufqSSqeM2qN1xzybapC8G4wEGGkZwyTDt1v' -- USDC
Sum Amount
Average Amount
Count of Wallet
Algorand
Table:
algorand.defi.ez_price_swap
algorand.core.ez_transfer
Where condition:
block_timestamp::date > current_date() - interval '{{TimePeriod}} {{PeriodType}}'
and asset_name = 'USDC'
Sum Amount
Average Amount
Count of Wallet
Flow
Table:
flow.core.fact_prices
flow.core.fact_events
Where condition:
block_timestamp::date > current_date() - interval '{{TimePeriod}} {{PeriodType}}'
and tx_succeeded = 'TRUE'
and event_contract = 'A.b19436aae4d94622.FiatToken' -- USDC
and event_type = 'TokensDeposited'
Sum Amount
Average Amount
Count of Wallet
NEAR
Table:
near.core.fact_prices
near.core.fact_transactions
Where condition:
block_timestamp::date > current_date() - interval '1 month'
and tx_status = 'Success'
and tx_receiver = 'a0b86991c6218b36c1d19d4a2e9eb0ce3606eb48.factory.bridge.near' -- USDC
and split(tx:receipt[0]['outcome']['logs'], ' ')[1] != 'account'
Sum Amount
Average Amount
Count of Wallet
Optimism
Table:
optimism.core.fact_hourly_token_prices
optimism.core.fact_token_transfers
Where condition:
block_timestamp::date > current_date() - interval '{{TimePeriod}} {{PeriodType}}'
and contract_address = '0x7f5c764cbc14f9669b88837ca1490cca17c31607' -- USDC
Sum Amount
Average Amount
Count of Wallet
Osmosis
Table:
osmosis.core.dim_prices
osmosis.core.fact_transfers
Where condition:
block_timestamp::date > current_date() - interval '{{TimePeriod}} {{PeriodType}}'
and currency = 'ibc/D189335C6E4A68B513C10AB227BF1C1D38C746766278BA3EEB4FB14124F1D858'--axlUSDC
Sum Amount
Average Amount
Count of Wallet
Axelar
Table:
osmosis.core.dim_prices
axelar.core.fact_transfers
Where condition:
block_timestamp::date > current_date() - interval '{{TimePeriod}} {{PeriodType}}'
and currency = 'uusdc'
and tx_succeeded = 'TRUE'
Sum Amount
Average Amount
Count of Wallet
Arbitrum
Table:
optimism.core.fact_hourly_token_prices
arbitrum.core.fact_token_transfers
Where condition:
block_timestamp::date > current_date() - interval '{{TimePeriod}} {{PeriodType}}'
and contract_address = lower('0xFF970A61A04b1cA14834A43f5dE4533eBDDB5CC8') -- USDC
Sum Amount
Average Amount
Count of Wallet
Polygon
Table:
optimism.core.fact_hourly_token_prices
polygon.core.fact_token_transfers
Where condition:
block_timestamp::date > current_date() - interval '{{TimePeriod}} {{PeriodType}}'
and contract_address = lower('0x2791bca1f2de4661ed88a30c99a7a9449aa84174') -- USDC
Sum of Amount ($) Transferred
==Ethereum== and ==Solana== networks have had the largest volume of transfers. ==NEAR== and ==Flow== networks are at the bottom of the ranking.
Apparently, Ethereum and Solana networks will easily advance to the next round!
NEAR and Flow are at the bottom of the table and have no hope of advancing to the next round!
Methodology
- Using information from 10 different Ethereum networks, Solana, Algorand, Flow, NEAR, Optimism, Osmosis, Axelar, Arbitrum, and Polygon==.
- Using the USDC price table in different networks to get the exact value of transferred tokens equivalent to USD.
- Distribution volume grouping based on 8 groups: Shrimp, Crab, Octopus, Fish, Dolphin, Shark, Whale, Humpback.
- Identify the top 10 wallets in each network for the highest transfer volume.
- The rate of change and regression of the governance tokens of each network compared to the price of Bitcoin.
- The possibility of choosing a time period based on day, month and year and the number of each in relation to the previous one.
- In some charts, depending on its clarity, the data is compared between all networks, and in others, they are displayed separately.
- The tables used and the filter are specified for each select.
- Use of CTE (Common Table Expression) for ease of reuse of information and transparency of Spark SQL codes.
- Using the Fork feature on Flipsidecrypto.
For the transparency of the charts, the ==logarithmic== parameter has been used in all charts
Sum Amount - Daily
Different networks have taken a certain trend on a daily basis during the last month.
But the ==Solana== network has significantly decreased from ==20 billion== to ==122 million== from ==November 10 to November 13== (==orange line==).
Average of Amount ($) Transferred
==Ethereum== and ==Axelar== networks are at the top in average USDC transfer volume.
==Algorand==, ==Polygon== and ==Optimism== networks are at the end of the table and there is a possibility of their elimination at this stage!
In the middle of the table are two networks, ==Flow== and ==Arbitrum==.
Count of Wallet (#) used in Transfers
The number of wallets that have been used to transfer USDC on the ==Algorand== network is very high. It has set an interesting record in the last month.
About ==1.25 million== wallets have been used to transfer USDC.
==Flow== network also had the lowest score in this item.
Average Amount - Daily
The average in Solana network has changed on the same dates from November 10 to 13 and has reached 8 thousand to 127. A drastic change has taken place during those days. In the Algorand network, it has reached from 19 to 687 from October 24 to October 26. Other networks have a clear and fixed trend.
Count of Wallets - Daily
The number of wallets on the Algorand network has grown exponentially on ==October 25==. The rest of the networks have a fixed routine in this parameter. The review was done in the last month.
Distribution of transfers
For this section, we have used common and well-known terms to categorize the volume of transfers. According to the following category, which is between ==1 and 5000 bitcoins==, we obtained the ==maximum volume== in transfers and ==divided it by 5000== to determine the amount of each slice. After that, we proceeded to categorize based on it.
- Shrimp: less than 1 BTC
- Crab: 1 to 10 BTC
- Octopus: 10 to 50 BTC
- Fish: 50 to 100 BTC
- Dolphin: 100 to 500 BTC
- Shark: 500 to 1000 BTC
- Whale: >1000 BTC
- Humpback: >5000 BTC
Source of this grouping and image:
Deep Dive in Distribution of transfers
Dispersion in different groups are shown in the two graphs above and below.
In this section, surveys have been conducted in general during one month and weekly in the same month.
In the week corresponding to October 17, dolphins and in the last two weeks of October, fish have the highest volume of transmission.
In the first 3 weeks of November, humpback, fish, and shark groups had the largest transfer volume with 183 billion, 2.5 billion, and 20 billion dollars, respectively.
Top 10 Wallets
Here are the top 10 wallets in each network that have the most USDC transfers.
In the Algorand network wallet ZG54ZBZ5LVWV3MTGOPDSKCBL5LEQTAPUTN5OQQZUMTAYV3JIICA7G3RJZEand in Arbitrum network wallet 0xbee27bd52db995d3c74dc11ff32d93a1aad747f7
and in Axelar network wallet kujira1my7d7egfkz5k00q97fmwdmvcmac02axmg2leqjand in Ethereum network wallet 0x55fe002aeff02f77364de339a1292923a15844b8
and in Flow network wallet 0x7f04aa0b7a8f7ae2and in NEAR network wallet nbiv.near
and in Optimism network wallet 0x0b4f305b71b71cf8a88fa978496709c83de12c9aand in Osmosis network wallet axelar19xj4ncc6h6y5ahpfqtspdx75y3dkrxj3zpah9k
and in Polygon network wallet 0xe7804c37c13166ff0b37f5ae0bb07a3aebb6e245and in Solana network wallet F8Vyqk3unwxkXukZFQeYyGmFfTG3CAX4v24iyrjEYBJV
They have had the most USDC transfer in the last month.
Deep dive in top 10 wallets
As can be seen, the difference between the second and third wallets in ==Algorand== is very large, while in other networks this difference is a certain percentage.
The second wallet has about ==235 million== USDC transfers, while the third wallet has about ==38.4 million== USDC transfers.
That is about ==6 times== less than the second wallet in the top transfer of USDCs
USDC transfer volume vs price volume
On the Ethereum network, we see a jump in the volume of transfers on November 2, while the average price has fallen on November 9.
In the Solana network, the average price is almost similar to the volume of transfer.
In Algorand, Flow, NEAR, Optimism, Osmosis, and Arbitrum networks, the average price is at a higher level than the transfer volume until November 8, and after that date, the average price is lower than the transfer volume.
In the Polygon and Axelar networks, we see almost identical changes in the average price and transfer volume.
Apparently, the ==FTX== incident has had an impact on this issue!
That is, ==November 8== is exactly after the FTX event, and before that, the average price behaved differently with the transfer volume.
USDC transfer volume vs BTC price volume
In this section, we will examine the dependence of USDC transfer on BTC price.
For several days after November 7, the majority of networks have increased USDC transfer volume.
Apparently, the fear of falling further has caused investors to make quick decisions.
The price of Bitcoin has fallen sharply on November 9, from 19.5 thousand on November 8 to 17.5 thousand on November 9.
CONCLUSION
-
USDC is one of the popular stablecoins along with USDT among crypto investors.
-
The Ethereum network had the largest volume of USDC transfers with about 501 billion dollars.
-
NEAR network had the lowest transfer with 42 million dollars.
-
The Algorand network has the largest number of wallets active in USDC transfers. A statistic that was even higher than Ethereum.
-
The average transfer in Ethereum network is about 185 thousand dollars, which shows that big investors are most active on this network.
- Solana network has significantly decreased from 20 billion to 122 million from November 10 to November 13
- In the Algorand network, it has reached from 19 to 687 from October 24 to October 26
- The FTX event had a strong impact on the correlation of transfer volume with the average token price on different networks each day.
- The price of Bitcoin has fallen sharply on November 9, from 19.5 thousand on November 8 to 17.5 thousand on November 9, and this has caused an increase in the volume of USDC transfers in various networks, especially the Ethereum network.
Amount transferred, average amount per transfer, and number of wallets transferring USDC
Sum Amount, Average Amount and Count of Wallet are specified. By default, the last month has been reviewed.
With about ==$501 billion==, ==Ethereum== has conquered the record of all networks in the last month.
==NEAR== had the lowest USDC transfer with around ==$42 million==.
The average amount in the ==Ethereum== network is ==$185k==, which is the highest, and in the ==Algorand== network, it is ==$485==, which is the lowest average among the networks.
The largest number of wallets active in transfers is related to the ==Algorand== network, which is about ==1250 million==. A wonderful statistic of this network that shows its activity in the last month. While in the ==Flow== network, about ==1263== wallets are the least number.
