By
Bhushan Akolkar
April 26th, 2024
By integrating the USDC for users in Chile, Circle will be hoping to offer them the stability of the U.S. dollar while also creating diverse payment options for them.
Stablecoin issuer Circle has partnered with retail giant Mercado Libre to bring the USD Coin (USDC) to Mercado Pago. According to Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire, this partnership will not only bring further utility to the coin but also expose the United States dollar to Chileans.
For what it’s worth, Mercado Libre boasts over 200 million users, and would undoubtedly help to further position the USDC as one of the most widely adopted stablecoins.
Meanwhile, the senior director of Mercado Pago, Matias Spagui has also hailed the new partnership. According to him, Mercado Libre has always been intent on accepting cryptocurrencies as a form of payment. However, there is also the fact that the U.S. dollar isn’t as acceptable for payment in Chile, as it is in many other Latin American countries.
So, by integrating the USDC for users in Chile, Circle will be hoping to offer them the stability of the U.S. dollar while also creating diverse payment options for them. Spagui said partly:
“With the launch of this stablecoin, we seek to diversify access to cryptocurrencies and offer the more than two million Mercado Pago users an alternative that matches the value of the dollar.”
Circle to Launch USDC on Base Network
Meanwhile, Circle is also preparing to launch the native version of the USDC on Coinbase’s network (Base). According to an August 29 post, the USDC will launch natively on Base by next week, replacing the current USD Base Coin (USDbC) alternative that most users currently use.
Coinbase’s Base network went live on August 9, albeit with no native version of the USDC on the network. By implication, that means that users may not deposit cash into a Circle account and expect to receive the equivalent amount of USDC on Base.
The Base team, however, was quick to draw up an alternative plan allowing users to bridge USDC from Ethereum via an official bridge app. The token issued from the bridge is called “USDbC.”
With Circle set to begin issuing USDC on Base, it appears that there might be no more need for an Ethereum-backed, bridged USDC version.