What is USDC?
USD Coin (USDC) is a stablecoin designed to be pegged to the US dollar and redeemable on a 1:1 basis for US dollars, backed by dollar denominated assets held in segregated accounts with US regulated financial institutions.
Why use USDC?
Fiat-backed stablecoins (cryptocurrencies pegged to reserve assets like the U.S. dollar) provide customers stability and confidence during times of volatility. USDC is one of the most trusted and reputable digital dollars, fully backed with high-quality reserves:
Hiqh quality reserves: Trade confidently. USDC is 100% backed by cash and short-dated U.S. Treasuries held in regulated U.S. financial institutions.
Trusted transparency: Reduce risk. Grant Thorton LLP, a leading 3rd party accounting firm, conducts transparent, monthly attestations on the US dollar denominated reserves that back the USDC in circulation.
Stable store of value: Find stability in crypto. Know that the value of your USDC is preserved over time whether you want to pay, send, or trade. USDC is designed to be pegged to the US dollar and redeemable 1:1 for USD.
Rewards: Users in eligible regions may be able to earn rewards on their USDC simply by holding it in their Coinbase account.
How to buy or convert to USDC with Coinbase
How to buy USDC on Coinbase Wallet
You can easily purchase USDC with fiat on Coinbase Wallet, through our integration with Coinbase.com.
Open the self-custody wallet or dapp, and select the Buy option.
Select Coinbase Pay when prompted to choose a payment method.
Sign into your Coinbase.com account and complete 2-step verification when prompted. (If you don’t have a Coinbase.com account, you can create an account.)
Select Allow to give the self-custody wallet to access your Coinbase.com account.
Choose your crypto and enter the amount you’d like to buy.
Choose your preferred payment method from your Coinbase.com account to make the buy.
Select Preview Buy to review your transaction details
Choose the chain you’d like to receive your USDC on: Ethereum, Base, Polygon, Solana, or the Avalanche C-chain.
Select Confirm to complete.
Note: There are zero Coinbase fees on USDC buys. Network fees may still apply.
Swapping USDC
Coinbase Wallet supports crypto-to-crypto swaps for assets hosted on Ethereum, Base, BNB chain, Avalanche C-Chain, Polygon, Solana, and Optimism. You can swap to and from USDC on any of these chains when you need one side of your swap to have a stable hold of value. Swaps on Coinbase Wallet are not subject to Coinbase fees.
To swap tokens from the Coinbase Wallet app, follow these steps:
On the Wallet mobile or extension homepage, select Swap.
Choose the token you want to convert, the token you’d like to receive, and the amount you want to convert.
Select Confirm.
Bridging USDC
Easily transfer your USDC across Ethereum, Polygon, Optimism, and Base with the built-in bridging feature on Coinbase Wallet. Bridging makes it possible to access and use dapps that are not accessible on the Ethereum mainnet. Coinbase does not charge commission fees when using our bridging feature.
How to Bridge USDC
Select the Bridge Icon from your Coinbase Wallet.
At the top of the screen Click the Bridge to select the networks you’d like to bridge between.
Select your From and To Networks and Click Done.
When you have returned to the Bridge screen, select the assets you would like to bridge from your available assets.
Enter the Amount of the Asset you would like to bridge and Click Preview.
Review the transaction and associated fees and time to complete the transaction and click Confirm to proceed.
You will be taken to a screen that confirms the conversion has been initiated. You may click Done or View Transactions to review the in-progress transaction.
