USD Coin
Overview
USDC is the reference asset for card-network stablecoin settlement. It is a fully reserved dollar token issued by Circle, redeemable 1:1, with reserves held in cash and short-dated US Treasuries and reported monthly.
Both card networks use it as their first settlement asset: Visa began settling acquirer obligations in USDC in 2023 and brought USDC settlement to eligible US issuers and acquirers in December 2025, running over Solana. Mastercard included USDC in its June 2026 on-chain settlement expansion. In both programs USDC replaces fiat wires in the issuer/acquirer settlement leg only — the consumer-facing authorization flow is unchanged.
Card-network settlement support
The most widely supported settlement stablecoin: Visa has settled in USDC since its 2023 pilot and launched US-domestic USDC settlement in Dec 2025 (over Solana); Mastercard added USDC in its Jun 2026 settlement expansion.
Regulation & reserves
Cash and short-dated US Treasuries (Circle Reserve Fund, SEC-registered); monthly attestations by a Big Four accounting firm.
Chain deployments
| Chain | Standard | Contract / asset identifier |
|---|---|---|
| Ethereum | ERC-20 | 0xA0b86991c6218b36c1d19D4a2e9Eb0cE3606eB48 |
| Solana | SPL | EPjFWdd5AufqSSqeM2qN1xzybapC8G4wEGGkZwyTDt1v |
| Base | ERC-20 | 0x833589fCD6eDb6E08f4c7C32D4f71b54bdA02913 |
| Arbitrum | ERC-20 | 0xaf88d065e77c8cC2239327C5EDb3A432268e5831 |
| Polygon | ERC-20 | 0x3c499c542cEF5E3811e1192ce70d8cC03d5c3359 |
| Avalanche | ERC-20 | 0xB97EF9Ef8734C71904D8002F8b6Bc66Dd9c48a6E |
| Stellar | Stellar asset | USDC:GA5ZSEJYB37JRC5AVCIA5MOP4RHTM335X2KGX3IHOJAPP5RE34K4KZVN asset code : issuer account |
Always verify contract addresses against the issuer’s official documentation before use — lookalike tokens with identical symbols are a common scam vector.