Coinbase to Take Stakes in Circle, Shut Down Jointly Managed USDC Operator

Crypto exchange Coinbase announced on Monday that it would take a stake in its partner stablecoin issuer, Circle Internet Financial (Circle), and close their jointly managed Centre Consortium, the operator of the stablecoin, USD Coin (USDC).

Coinbase stated in its latest blog: "Centre will no longer exist as a stand-alone entity and Circle will remain as the issuer of USDC, bringing any Centre governance and operations responsibilities in-house. The new structure will streamline the operations and governance, and enhance the direct accountability of Circle as the issuer, including holding all the smart contract keys, complying with regulations on governance of reserves and enabling USDC on new blockchains."

In September-October, USDC will be launched on 6 new blockchains, bringing the 'multi-chain access of USDC up to 15'.

The crypto exchange further explained that, "Coinbase and Circle will continue to generate revenue from USDC reserves interest income. Under the parties' new arrangement, this revenue will continue to be shared based on the amount of USDC held on each of our platforms, and additionally we will now equally share in interest income generated from the broader distribution and usage of USDC".

Coinbase has seen a flurry of activity recently. In addition to continuing to engage with the U.S. SEC on the regulation of cryptocurrencies, the crypto platform launched its own decentralized blockchain, called Base​, earlier this month. 

Furthermore, the company last week announced its officially expansion into Canada and approval from the National Futures Association (NFA)​ to offer traditional spot crypto trading alongside regulated and leveraged crypto futures. However, late last week, Coinbase said in an email that it would suspend trading with USDT, DAI and RAI stablecoins for Canadian users​ starting at the end of this month.