Benefits of Learning How To Buy USD Coin in The UK
A stablecoin called USD Coin was developed on the Ethereum (ETH) platform. The value of USDC is tied to the dollar, just like other collateralized stablecoins. In other words, one USDC should ideally always be equivalent to one USD.
Despite the fact that there are more than 19,000 cryptocurrency projects, USDC is one of the biggest. With more than $51 billion worth of currency in circulation as of this writing, it actually merits the top title as the second-largest stablecoin behind Tether. In terms of market cap, it ranks fourth among all cryptocurrencies.
Centre, a group established by Circle and Coinbase, unveiled USDC in 2018. It was developed to be a regulated stablecoin that utilizes blockchain technology and “functions within U.S. money transfer rules and regulations.”
Similar to Tether, USDC was criticized last year for lacking an asset or dollar equivalent to back each USDC.
Step By Step Guide on How to Buy USD Coin (USDC) in the UK?
UK-based cryptocurrency exchanges like Coinbase and CoinJar provide options for you to purchase USDC.
To acquire and keep USD coins safely, follow these steps:
Open an account with a crypto exchange
A platform or application that links cryptocurrency buyers and sellers is known as a crypto exchange. You may put buy or sell orders when you sign up, and the cryptocurrency exchange will match them with those of investors wishing to make the opposite deals.
You will be required to submit some basic data, including a photocopy of your ID, your complete name, date of birth, and your residential address. These are necessary legal prerequisites for one to buy USDC, and the entire procedure just takes a few minutes.
Choose and configure your crypto wallet
Your wallet is your vault where you store your cryptocurrencies safely if you see the cryptocurrency exchange as a marketplace to buy USD coin and sell USD coin or cryptocurrencies. The safest approach to retain cryptocurrency over the long term is with your own wallet (or vault), provided you don’t forget your password.
Exchanges have been hacked on several occasions in the past. The USD Coin may be kept in any Ethereum-based wallet, including Coinbase Wallet and MetaMask Wallet, as it is an ERC20 token.
Fund your crypto account
You must fund the account if you are purchasing cryptocurrency for the first time such as in this case, to buy usdc. Simply put, this is transferring a fiat currency to the exchange in order to exchange it for cryptocurrency, such as the British pound.
You may often fund your account on exchanges with a debit card, credit card, PayPal, or a direct bank connection. If the cryptocurrency exchange accepts transfers of current cryptocurrencies, you can fund your new account with existing cryptocurrencies if you already have them in another exchange or wallet.
Buy USDC
You may now buy USDC after funding your account with your bank account. To locate and buy USD Coin (usdc), enter the ticker symbol “USDC” into the search field of your preferred crypto exchange. Once you’ve found the currency, you can either establish a limit to automatically buy the token when it hits your chosen price or buy USD coin (usdc) at the going rate.
Transfer your USDC to your crypto wallet
You may now move the USD Coins you just purchased into your wallet for storage. Transfer the usdc tokens back to the exchange to sell crypto if you ever decide to sell usd coin or sell crypto.
Where to Purchase USDC?
Here is a list of some of the top crypto exchanges in the UK where you can buy USDC. You can buy USD Coin (USDC), buy Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies in the UK on these platforms, wallets, applications, and websites.
Please keep in mind that cryptocurrencies are unregulated, extremely volatile financial products that do not offer UK or EU investor protection. All of the money you invested in them might be lost, which can happen in the case of buying USDC as well. Profits from Bitcoin sales may also be subject to capital gains tax.
Here are some of the top cryptocurrency trading applications for purchasing USDC in the UK:
Coinbase – Good for beginners; Live prices; Wallet; Popular coins
Coinbase is a crypto exchange that enables you to buy usdc, sell, earn, and keep track of a variety of digital currencies in one location. Over 500 cryptocurrencies and other digital assets or digital currency are available through Coinbase, including well-known ones like Bitcoin, Ethereum, USD Coin, Tether, Dogecoin, and Cardano.
By setting up regular purchases on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, you may invest in cryptocurrencies gradually over time. Through the online app or the iOS and Android mobile applications, you can also keep track of your transactions and keep tabs on crypto market activity.
You may trade more than 500 assets on DEXes, collect interest, and store all of your cryptocurrencies and NFTs in one location with the Coinbase Wallet.
When trading cryptocurrencies on Coinbase, there are a variety of costs associated. Fees are calculated at the moment of order placement and may be based on a number of variables, such as the chosen payment method, the order size, and crypto market circumstances including volatility and liquidity. Coinbase provides USDC trading without commissions.
Please be aware that cryptocurrency is not subject to regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), is not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, and is not covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service’s purview.
Investing in cryptocurrencies carries risk; they might increase in value or decrease in value completely. Profits from the selling of cryptocurrencies may be subject to capital gains tax, which applies in buying usdc.
CoinJar – Live prices; Crypto wallet; Crypto card; Beginner-friendly
A program and exchange for cryptocurrencies called CoinJar is situated in the UK and Australia. You may trade or invest in more than 50 cryptocurrencies with Coinjar, including well-known ones like Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and USD Coin. Through the CoinJar app and wallet, customers may purchase, trade, keep, or spend cryptocurrency.
You may use your cryptocurrency to make purchases both online and offline with the CoinJar Card. There are no monthly costs for using the card, and activation is free. Every time you use your card to make a purchase, you also earn CoinJar Rewards. Both novice and experienced investors can benefit from CoinJar.
To establish an account with CoinJar, a £10 deposit is required. Since deposits are done in GBP, there are no FX costs. On the CoinJar website and mobile app, there is a 1% trading charge. The CoinJar Exchange charges 0.00% for taker orders and 0.04–0.1% for maker orders (for market orders and aggressive limit orders) (limit orders).
Please be aware that there is no UK or EU investor protection for the extremely volatile financial instruments known as cryptocurrencies. Your money can be in danger even when you buy usdc, therefore invest at your own risks.
Gemini – Live prices; Crypto wallet; Beginner-friendly
Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss launched Gemini, a user-friendly bitcoin exchange appropriate for both novice and experienced crypto traders. Gemini makes it simple to learn about the cryptocurrency market, purchase usdc, buy Bitcoin, Ethereum, and more than 50 other digital currencies, and create a portfolio of digital assets.
You may trade assets, manage your crypto holdings, establish recurring trades, receive dynamic price notifications, and select GBP, USD, AUD, CAD, EUR, HKD, or SGD as your default currency with Gemini. Through the online app or the iOS and Android mobile applications, you can also keep track of your transactions and keep tabs on market activity.
Customers in the UK have access to the Gemini Exchange, which provides both simple and complex crypto trading tools. The Gemini wallet, which enables you to keep all of your dollar denominated assets in an insured hot wallet or institutional-grade cold storage system, is also available to consumers in the UK.
Depending on whether you access the Gemini Exchange using the mobile app, web app, or ActiveTrader interface, there are a variety of expenses associated with trading cryptocurrencies on Gemini, including transaction fees, Maker-Taker fees, and withdrawal fees.
Gemini charges Maker-Taker fees for orders issued through ActiveTrader and from £0.75 to 1.49% for transactions made through its mobile and online apps.
Please be aware that there is no UK or EU investor protection for the extremely volatile financial instruments known as cryptocurrencies. Your money is in danger.
Coinsmart – Good for beginners; Advanced crypto trading tools
A user-friendly crypto exchange called Coinsmart is on a mission to make cryptocurrencies available to everyone. It is intended to be a user-friendly, straightforward platform for trading cryptocurrencies. With Coinsmart, you can quickly and conveniently purchase and sell Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and other virtual currencies on desktop and mobile devices.
When trading cryptocurrencies on Coinsmart, there are a variety of costs associated. Depending on your withdrawal method, there may be withdrawal costs as well as trading fees.
Please be aware that there is no UK or EU investor protection for the extremely volatile financial instruments known as cryptocurrencies. Your money is in danger.
OKX – Beginner-friendly; Wallets, Advanced crypto trading tools
You may buy usdc, trade, and store hundreds of well-known cryptocurrencies and altcoins on the OKX cryptocurrency market. Users of OKX may trade a variety of well-known cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, USD Coin, XRP, ADA, SOL, and DOGE.
Additionally, users may trade a variety of DeFi cryptocurrencies, including Uniswap, AAVE, Maker, Synthetix, and Compound, as well as cryptocurrencies associated to NFT, including ApeCoin, FLOW, Chiliz, and MANA (Decentraland). You may purchase cryptocurrency on OKX using GBP, more than 30 other fiat currencies, or your own cryptoassets.
For newcomers, experienced crypto traders, and institutions alike, OKX features cryptocurrency trading tools. Users may also join OKX’s mining pool, have early access to new tokens like usdc tokens, earn large returns, or borrow money at cheap interest rates using their cryptoassets.
Maker-Taker fees are levied by OKX for all trades made on the exchange. Regular and VIP users pay varying costs. The overall OKB holdings of regular users determine their tier, whereas the 30-day trading volumes and daily asset balances of VIP users determine their tier. Every day, the trade tiers are modified.
Please be aware that there is no UK or EU investor protection for the extremely volatile financial instruments known as cryptocurrencies. Your money is in danger.
What is a Stablecoin?
Cryptocurrencies known as stablecoins are tied 1:1 to a “stable” reserve asset such as the US dollar, euro, yuan, or gold. They are made to lessen the cyclical nature of cryptocurrencies.
The value of one stablecoin should, theoretically, virtually always be equal to the value of the reserve asset to which it is anchored (1 USDC = 1 USD). This eliminates the need to be concerned about the price volatility of unpegged cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum when using, holding, or gifting stablecoins.
People in emerging nations with shaky national currencies will notably benefit from this. Stablecoins also provide shelter for crypto traders during periods of high volatility.
The majority of stablecoins function by keeping pegged currency reserves in a bank account, ensuring that the digital currency has complete backing from the corresponding fiat currency.
Algorithmic stablecoins, which are stablecoins that are not backed by fiat money, have been attempted to be created. One of the most prominent of them, Terra USD, which just crashed, has yet to show viable.
Although the price of a cryptocurrency might change drastically on a daily basis, reserve-backed stablecoins like USDC often have significantly lower volatility, hence the term.
What Is USD Coin?
A stablecoin called USD Coin, sometimes known as USDC, is matched 1:1 to the US dollar. One should always be able to swap 1 USDC for 1 USD, according to the reasoning behind this, at least, in theory.
The price of USD coins do, in fact, occasionally fluctuate significantly, but this is only a matter of supply and demand, with merchants occasionally willing to pay little more than $1 or take slightly less than $1 in order to complete their deal swiftly.
However, due to the fact that USDC often trades within a very small percentage of $1, the range at which it trades is quite limited.
The USDC stablecoin was introduced in September 2018 and is backed by cash and dollar denominated assets that are at least as valuable to the USDC and are held in segregated accounts with US-regulated financial institutions. The designers claim that such accounts are publicly confirmed by a reputable accounting agency.
The Centre consortium, a collaboration between bitcoin exchange Coinbase and peer-to-peer payment services provider Circle, developed USD Coin.
How Does USD Coin Work?
Every USDC on the internet, according to the Centre Consortium, is “theoretically” always redeemable 1:1 for US dollars since it is 100% backed by cash and short-term US treasuries.
The administration and safekeeping of USDC reserves is entrusted to prestigious US financial organizations like BlackRock and BNY Mellon. One of the biggest audit, tax, and consultancy firms in the US, Grant Thornton LLP, offers third-party assurance on the USDC reserve’s amount every month.
By minting and burning coins in tandem with deposits and withdrawals, the USDC keeps its peg to the US dollar. British pounds (GBP) would be translated into US dollars and put into a bank account if you were to buy USDC in the UK using GBP. This would result in the creation of new USDC.
Reverse of the same occurs. Your USDC would be burnt if you tried to convert it back to GBP since it would no longer be backed by actual money.
Whether you are comparing USDC with USDT (TetherUSD) or any other reserve-backed stablecoins like BUSD, the operation of a stablecoin is nearly the same (BinanceUSD).
USDC vs USDT
The following are some distinctions between USDC and USDT:
Despite the fact that it has been around longer, trading volumes for USDT are often greater. While USDC started in 2018, USDT was founded in 2014. This is unimportant since USDC is also quite liquid and has a large trading volume.
Transparency and, maybe, safety are where USDC and USDT diverge most. Tether has often been reticent to make public audits of its assets available, and at one time it even filed a request with the New York Supreme Court to have this information withheld.
On the other side, Coinbase and Circle have worked very hard to be as open and transparent as they can be, issuing monthly audit statements from the world’s largest accounting firm Grant Thornton LLP.
Additionally, Coinbase and Circle exclusively store their USDC reserves in cash and short-dated US treasury securities. Tether, in comparison, only has 82.45% of its USDT reserves in cash or cash equivalents. Other assets, including secured loans, corporate bonds, and precious metals, make up the remaining USDT reserves.
What Is USD Coin Used for?
Investors that buy USD Coin (USDC) want to reduce their volatility while also keeping their money in the cryptocurrency space. Even the largest cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, are capable of extreme volatility.
The value of your crypto holdings will be significantly more steady if you own USD coin since the US dollar, to which USDC is tied, is a very stable global currency.
Investors may choose to do this for a variety of reasons. During a bear market or a cryptocurrency meltdown, USDC may be utilized as a “safe haven,” enabling holders to wait patiently for a favorable moment to “buy the dip” in other cryptocurrencies.
It may also be a great way for investors who reside in nations where the US dollar is scarce and the currency is unstable to transfer money across borders effortlessly.
The USDC is frequently used in transactions without a direct market as a liquidity currency. For instance, the exchange might not provide a direct trade between two small-cap currencies if a trader wishes to swap one for the other because the market is too tiny.
It could be essential in some situations to first exchange the first for USDC before exchanging the USDC for the second.
What Is the USD Coin Blockchain?
Since USDC is an ERC-20 token, it makes use of the Ethereum blockchain. The Ethereum blockchain is frequently used in this way, and other well-known cryptocurrencies adhere to this norm.
Tether USD (USDT), Chainlink (LINK), and Shiba Inu are some further instances of ERC-20 tokens utilizing the Ethereum platform (SHIB).
Is USDC Safe?
One of the safest cryptocurrencies you may keep on the cryptocurrency risk spectrum is USDC.
This is due to the fact that it is completely backed by genuine US dollar reserves, which are widely thought of as the safest fiat currency in the whole world. However, no cryptocurrency or other type of investing is 100% secure.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I buy USDC in the UK?
In the UK, buying USDC has never been easier. You can buy USDC at the following crypto exchanges:
Best for new users; current values; crypto wallet; widely used coins
CoinJar – Live pricing; Crypto wallet; Crypto card; Beginner-friendly
Live pricing; beginner-friendly; cryptocurrency wallet; Gemini
Coinsmart – Excellent for new users; modern cryptocurrency trading tools
OKX – Simple to use; Wallets, sophisticated cryptocurrency trading tools
Is USD Coin worth buying?
If you desire a cryptocurrency tied to the US dollar, USD Coin is worthwhile to purchase. Even while there won’t be significant increases, it can still be quite valuable when we talk about buy usdc. Purchasing USDC enables investors to retain a cryptocurrency with low volatility that is simple to swap for US dollars and other cryptocurrencies.
It may make it simple and affordable to transfer money across borders, grant access to US dollars in nations where doing so might be challenging, and aid in supplying investors’ portfolios with liquidity.
Is USD Coin real money?
No nation recognizes USD Coin as legal tender or a fiat money. However, it is a fantastic alternative to other cryptocurrencies because it is entirely backed by and redeemed for genuine US dollars.
Can USD Coin make money?
USDC stakes can result in profits for investors. Staking is the practice of an investor leaving their coin on an exchange in exchange for benefits. Coinbase now offers a 1% APY on USDC stakes on its platform.
With the changes in the currency rate, USDC can also generate income. Due to its peg to the US dollar, USDC might fluctuate in value when measured against other currencies like the British pound.
What is the future of USD Coin?
As a stablecoin, USDC has so far delivered on its promise. There are now no signs of worry or hints regarding its position, and it intends to continue playing a part in the cryptocurrency industry in the future.
According to Grant Thornton’s September audit, the organization is now very well capitalized for the future with reserves totaling $47,479,523,936 and USDC in circulation of $47,261,819,834.
Can USDC give you interest?
Yes, USDC may provide you interest payments. It will frequently give a yield to the investor if you are willing to stake USDC on an exchange. Investors who stake USDC can now take advantage of Coinbase’s 1% APY offer.
How often is interest paid on USDC?
Instead than the USDC itself, staking incentives depend on the platform hosting your USDC. Investors that stake their USDC with Coinbase will get rewards once every month based on their monthly staked amount.
Can you sell USD Coin for cash?
You may really exchange USD Coin for cash. The majority of crypto exchanges let you convert your USDC back into fiat money like US dollars or British pounds. To maintain a supply equal to reserves kept, the tokens are burnt when USDC is traded for cash.
What are the risks of USDC?
Due to its link to the US dollar, holding USDC in the UK carries a significant amount of risk. Your USDC will be worth less in British pound terms if the British pound declines in value relative to the US dollar.
How does USDC make money?
Interest on the cash and cash equivalents that USDC maintains is a source of income. With the current reserves being around $47 billion, for instance, even a 0.10% annual interest rate would result in $47 million in revenue.
Which wallet accepts USDC?
Since USDC makes use of the Ethereum blockchain, investors may keep USDC in the majority of Ethereum-based wallets. Coinbase Wallet and MetaMask Wallet are two examples of Ethereum-based wallets. Before attempting to initiate a transfer, it is crucial to confirm that your wallet is compatible with USDC because every wallet is unique.
Where is the best place to buy USDC?
Here are some of the top locations in the UK to buy USDC:
Best for new users; current values; wallet; widely used coins
CoinJar – Live pricing; Crypto wallet; Crypto card; Beginner-friendly
Live pricing; beginner-friendly; cryptocurrency wallet; Gemini
Coinsmart – Excellent for new users; modern cryptocurrency trading tools
OKX – Simple to use; Wallets, sophisticated cryptocurrency trading tools
Can I convert USDC to Bitcoin?
It is possible to exchange USDC for Bitcoin. You may convert USDC for Bitcoin on almost all crypto exchanges that support both currencies.
What is the current price of USDC?
USDC now costs $1.00 or £0.85 per unit (at the time of writing). On CoinMarketCap, you can always check the current price of one USD coin.
Can I legally buy USDC in the UK?
Yes, it is legal to buy USDC in the UK. Although the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the UK’s financial watchdog, does not yet supervise cryptocurrencies, it does provide a list of the crypto exchanges that are currently registered with it. Gemini, CoinJar, and Coinbase are a few of them.
With over 10 years of experience working as a financial analyst, Eric is highly aware of the potential of cryptocurrency, particularly Bitcoin, and the impact it will bring towards the global economy. He is committed to share everything he knows about crypto here at Crypto Digest News.