USDC Becomes First Stablecoin Listing on Robinhood

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  • USD Coin (USDC-USD) is being listed on Robinhood’s (HOOD) crypto platform today.
  • This is the first stablecoin listing on Robinhood.
  • The listing will help USDC to capitalize on a growing base of U.S. crypto investors.
USD coin (USDC) cryptocurrency symbol. Cryptocurrency coin 3D illustration
Source: Gorev Evgenii / Shutterstock.com

The crossover of crypto into the mainstream isn’t stopping, even in the face of short-term instability. The bear market isn’t scaring traditional institutions away from crypto, either. Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD) is proving that today as the trading platform doubles down on crypto compatibility by listing USD Coin (USDC-USD).

Robinhood has had cryptos listed for buying and selling on its platform since 2018. It is also one of the first financial institutions outside of the cryptosphere to embrace digital assets, which may not come as a surprise. Robinhood has been known to step out of the norm when it comes to e-trading.

Initially, Robinhood carried only Bitcoin (BTC-USD) and a few other cryptos, then listed Dogecoin (DOGE-USD) six months later. However, the company didn’t touch new crypto listings again until early this year — nearly four years later. In April, Robinhood added four more cryptos. Then, sporadically throughout June and July, it listed several more. Now this month, the company is making its first-ever stablecoin listing by bringing USDC to its trading floor.

As a stablecoin, Robinhood investors won’t be able to net profits on USDC. However, the listing is an obvious next course of action for a company focusing heavily on crypto expansion. Earlier in the year, Robinhood gave users a non-custodial wallet, offering a way to move crypto assets off of the platform for the first time. With USDC support, users will be able to convert their existing stablecoin holdings into cash and use that to buy stocks on Robinhood. Others will also be able to convert their cash into non-volatile crypto without needing to create a brokerage account with another company.

Robinhood Listing Helps Struggling USDC Crypto

The USDC crypto will benefit greatly from this Robinhood listing. The app has a vast user demographic, many of whom are less familiar with crypto than those using crypto exchanges. Thus, USDC will be the first stablecoin these new users will familiarize themselves with. The new listing is also helping USDC overcome some recent tumult.

USD Coin has been in the news quite a bit recently, although none of it has been good for its expansion. For example, the company behind it had to freeze 75,000 coins caught in the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s sanctions against Tornado Cash. Now, users who want to recoup their USDC have to dox their private wallet information to the U.S. government in order to do so.

That’s not all, either. USDC has also seen some uncertainty as crypto exchange Binance () looks to beef up the usage of its own stablecoin, Binance USD (BUSD-USD). In an effort to boost BUSD liquidity on its platform, Binance is dropping support for USDC and auto-converting users’ USDC deposits to BUSD. Being the largest crypto exchange in the world by trading volume, that news certainly hurts USD Coin. After all, a significant amount of its trading volume comes from Binance transactions.

Finally, just yesterday, Binance affiliate WazirX announced that it too would be de-listing USDC in an effort to bump up the use of BUSD. WazirX is one of the biggest exchanges in India, a fast-growing crypto demographic. So, USDC is losing out on a chance to capitalize on that corner of the globe as well.

On the date of publication, Brenden Rearick did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2022/09/usdc-becomes-first-stablecoin-listing-on-robinhood/.

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