What USDC is
USDC is a US dollar stablecoin issued by Circle through regulated affiliates, and redeemable 1 to 1 for dollars. Circle says it is fully backed by cash and cash-equivalent assets, most of them in the Circle Reserve Fund, a government money market fund managed by BlackRock, and Circle publishes monthly reserve attestations by a Big Four accounting firm.
In the EU, USDC is an e-money token under MiCA. Its EU issuer, Circle Internet Financial Europe SAS, is an electronic money institution authorised by France's ACPR, its USDC white paper has been in ESMA's register since July 2024, and holders in the EEA have a right to redeem it at par. Circle issues USDC natively on many chains, including Ethereum, Solana, Base, Arbitrum and Polygon PoS, which is why it is one of the two stablecoins our checkout module accepts.
What it does in your platform
Checkout
Lets buyers pay in USDC from their own wallet, on the networks you accept. The module confirms and screens each transfer, marks the order paid and credits the merchant in USDC in the ledger.
How the connection works
USDC payments arrive on chain at addresses from your custody setup, whether an institutional custody provider holds the keys or you do. The module reads each network through your own nodes or a node provider.
The buyer picks USDC
On the merchant's hosted checkout, with the network they hold it on, for example Base, Solana or Ethereum.
The amount and the address
The checkout shows the amount in USDC and a payment address on that network, from your custody setup.
The buyer pays
They send the USDC from their own wallet or from an exchange account.
The chain confirms
The module sees the transfer on chain and waits for the confirmations you set for that network.
Screened before credit
The transfer is screened before it is credited, like every incoming transfer on the platform.
Paid and booked
The order is marked paid, the merchant's USDC balance is credited in the ledger, and the payment shows up in the backoffice.
Next to other payment methods
USDC sits next to USDT in the checkout's crypto payments, and next to cards, wallets and bank payments for buyers who do not hold crypto. Each coin is its own asset in the ledger, so the books always show what a buyer paid with.
Custody and node providers can change without touching the checkout: confirmation rules, screening and the ledger belong to the platform. Adding another EVM network is mostly configuration; other networks need a new connector.
When USDC fits best
A strong fit when
- You serve customers in the EU and want a stablecoin whose issuer is authorised under MiCA.
- Your buyers hold USDC on networks such as Base, Solana or Ethereum.
- You want a dollar stablecoin with monthly reserve attestations and daily reporting on its reserve fund.
Also worth a look
- USDT, for buyers who hold it, where your compliance team is comfortable offering it.
- Cards and bank payments, for buyers who do not hold crypto.
How we get you live
The networks
We choose with you the networks you accept USDC on, among those where Circle issues it natively and your custody setup supports.
Custody and nodes
We connect your custody provider or your own keys, and node access for each network, so addresses and confirmations come from your setup.
The rules
We set how many confirmations each network needs before an order counts as paid, and the screening every incoming transfer goes through.
A full test run
The whole flow runs on test networks with Circle's testnet USDC, which has no financial value, then with a small real payment on each network you accept.
