Coinbase has revealed its intention to expand the storage capacity for both corporate and customer USDC balances on Base, an Ethereum Layer 2 solution incubated by the exchange and constructed on the open-source OP Stack.
This strategic move is anticipated to yield numerous advantages, including reduced fees, expedited settlement times, and bolstered security measures for the management of customer funds.
Max Branzburg, the Vice President and Head of Consumer Products at Coinbase, made the announcement in a post on X on Wednesday.
“This initiative allows us to effectively oversee and safeguard customer funds while benefiting from lower fees and swifter settlement times, all without compromising the Coinbase user experience,” he remarked.
Branzburg further advocated for other companies to emulate Coinbase’s lead by transitioning their operations onto the blockchain.
The community shows its backing for the decision to bolster USDC reserves on Base.
The announcement has garnered a favorable response, notably from Jesse Pollak, a contributor to Base, who has expressed enthusiastic support for Coinbase’s transition.
Pollak lauded the move as “based” and affirmed ongoing support for Coinbase in their ventures into the blockchain realm.
based
excited to keep supporting @coinbase moving onchain
— Jesse Pollak (jesse.xyz) 🛡️ (@jessepollak) March 26, 2024
Base, an Ethereum Layer 2 solution, has witnessed a remarkable surge in its Total Value Locked (TVL).
According to Defi Llama data, user deposits on Base have exceeded $1 billion.
This surge marks a substantial increase, considering that the TVL has more than doubled since the beginning of the month, when it stood at $470 million onchain.
The surge in Base’s TVL can primarily be attributed to decentralized exchange Aerodrome, which has contributed the majority of the locked value since its significant growth starting in early February.
Transaction counts on Base have also experienced a notable uptick, surpassing those of other optimistic rollups in terms of growth.
While Arbitrum has also seen a surge in transaction counts, OP Mainnet has observed a more modest increase in its daily transaction count.
The era of USDC on Tron is coming to a close.
Coinbase’s decision to increase USDC reserves on Base coincides with the announcement from Boston-based crypto firm Circle, revealing their intentions to cease the creation of USDC tokens on the Tron blockchain.
Circle pointed to the paramount importance of ensuring transparency, trustworthiness, and safety of USDC as the driving force behind their decision.
In a statement on X, the company articulated, “Our choice to discontinue support for USDC on TRON stems from a comprehensive approach across our organization, involving the business unit, compliance, and other functions within our company.”
More recently, Binance has also disclosed its decision to discontinue facilitating deposits and withdrawals of USDC via the Tron blockchain network.
However, Binance clarified that users would still retain the ability to trade USDC on their platform. Moreover, deposits and withdrawals of USDC through other supported networks would remain unaffected by this change.
Presently, with a circulation totaling approximately $32.1 billion, USDC stands as the eighth-largest cryptocurrency and the second-largest stablecoin after Tether.
According to Circle’s website, the majority of USDC tokens in circulation are based on the Ethereum blockchain.
