Centre Announces Multi-Chain USDC Framework

Centre was formed with a vision of building a standard set of protocols for fiat-denominated digital currencies that could work across different wallets, currencies and platforms. The first Centre stablecoin, USDC, has seen very broad adoption in an expanding range of use cases spanning payments, trading, savings, lending, commerce and more. Built on the Ethereum blockchain, USDC has benefited from the unique, rich and robust ecosystem that supports ERC-20 tokens and Ethereum smart contracts. The Ethereum ecosystem has responded by embracing USDC, and developers have used it to fuel a diverse set of innovative applications.

As consumer, corporate and regulatory interest in stablecoins reaches an all-time high, and with the continued innovation in public blockchain infrastructure and capabilities — whether it be in transaction scaling and throughput, or features specific to key use-cases such as financial applications, gaming and commerce, Centre is today setting the stage for the next phase of stablecoin adoption by putting in place a Multi-Chain framework for USDC.

To support a broad range of use cases, developers and ecosystems, Centre aims to allow its fiat-denominated digital currency standards to be used across multiple blockchains. By enabling stablecoins built on Centre’s protocols to be available on multiple blockchain ecosystems while still providing underlying interoperability, Centre enables wider adoption and usage of digital dollars built around USDC.

Centre recognizes that stablecoins issued by Centre members can be used by developers without any explicit permission — for instance to issue or “back” derivative tokens. The tremendous success of Compound USDC(cUSDC) is a great example of this at work today. However, developers might wish to use USDC branding, or obtain explicit support from Centre and its network of members. This may range from community-led and initiated projects, to stablecoins issued and supported by Centre Network members which are Powered by USDC, to fully supported versions of USDC by all Centre Network members and issuers.

To that end, Centre’s Multi-Chain framework commits to providing various levels of support to stablecoins built on Centre protocols commensurate with the obligations that developers must undertake. The ultimate goal is to foster even broader adoption of Centre’s standards while maximizing the security of customer funds and minimizing customer confusion. In a subsequent blog post, we will outline the different levels and types of integrations and the associated certification requirements and co-marketing benefits.

Today, Centre member Circle has announced a collaboration with the Algorand Foundation that will leverage Centre’s Multi-Chain framework in order to bring the benefits of USDC to a second blockchain, in this case a blockchain project that has demonstrated strong features and capabilities that are optimized for high-volume payments and financial applications. The Algorand digital dollar stablecoin implementation is Powered by USDC, and will be fully collateralized by fiat reserves, available through Circle’s issuing and redemption services, and will be able to be seamlessly swapped with ERC-20 USDC through an USDC token bridge that is being operated by Circle.

Centre welcomes dialogue with other public and private blockchain projects that share the vision of open, interoperable fiat-denominated digital currency standards. Projects that are interested in implementations or integrations that use our new Multi-Chain framework can contact the Centre Partnerships group at partnerships@centre.io.