Coinbase is set to expand Stablecoin support at a global level. The cryptocurrency exchange previously limited USDC support to the US (excluding New York State).
Coinbase is now available in over 100 countries, its aggressive expansion means that out of 103 countries, 85 now support USDC however, many areas do not allow crypto-to-fiat conversions and traders are limited to exchanging their crypto assets for other assets. Trade in USDC takes place on Coinbase and Coinbase Pro.
USDC is the equivalent of $1USD. It’s value remains stable, hence the name ‘stablecoin’. Each time a USDC token is issued $1 is stored in a bank account by Coinbase and USDC partners.
If you live in a country with high inflation rates USDC is a Godsend. In 2018, Argentina, for example, had a 47% inflation rate. In cases like this your basic living costs escalate and the value of your savings are reduced.
Therefore, many people turn to cryptocurrency to avoid these inflationary effects. However, most cryptocurrencies experience fluctuations in price so the strategy is not without risk.
USDC certainly has the potential to be a partial solution – using an exchange to convert bitcoin to USDC and then storing them can provide useful financial buffer.
The following countries have crypt-to-crypto trading:
Angola, Armenia, Aruba, Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Benin, Botswana, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Curaçao, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Macau, Maldives, Mauritius, Mongolia, Montenegro, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Oman, Panama, Paraguay, Rwanda, Serbia, South Africa, Taiwan, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Uruguay, Uzbekistan and Zambia.
