Cosmos Finally Gets Native Stablecoin With Impending USDC Launch

Circle has announced that the USDC stablecoin will be launching in the Cosmos ecosystem through its partnership with the Noble network. 

The launch will make USDC available to all Cosmos IBC blockchains. 

Soon after making its way out of stealth, Noble Protocol has announced that it has entered into a partnership that will bring USDC natively to the Cosmos ecosystem. The news was announced by Circle, the issuer of the stablecoin, in a Twitter post, 

"We're excited to bring USDC to @Cosmos! USDC is expected to launch on @noble_xyz soon; stay tuned for details. #IBC"

Noble Protocol also made its own announcement on Twitter, although no specific timeline or date for USDC's launch on Cosmos has been shared.

"This is a huge moment for our ecosystem. @Cosmos has never had a native, fiat-backed stablecoin that is highly liquid & fully collateralized. For the first time in @Cosmos history, 50+ IBC-enabled blockchains (& counting!) will soon be able to access USDC natively via IBC."

However, both Circle and Noble have asked users to "stay tuned." USDC is currently the second-largest stablecoin in the crypto space behind Tether and plays a crucial role in several decentralized finance (DeFi) projects. It is also used as collateral for lending and borrowing and generates yield thanks to its stability and dollar peg. While the stablecoin went through some volatility following the collapse of Silvergate Bank and Silicon Valley Bank, it has regained its dollar peg. 

Cosmos is an interconnected web of blockchains that utilize the Tendermint Byzantine fault-tolerance protocol, Application Blockchain Interface, and Cosmos Software Development Kit. The Noble team stated that following the launch, USDC will be the first native, fiat-backed stablecoin on the Cosmos Inter-Blockchain Communication protocol. The team believes that introducing the highly liquid and fiat-backed USDC stablecoin would solve several challenges users face on Cosmos face when they try to bridge assets between different networks. The team explained, 

"This integration will catalyze hundreds of millions of dollars in liquidity over the coming months in Cosmos and will seek to rectify the challenges that users and appchains face when interacting with bridged assets sourced from other ecosystems. […] Every blockchain needs a canonical and fungible version of USDC, and Noble exists to fulfill this critical need."

Currently, users on Cosmos can only access major stablecoins through bridge protocols such as Axelar and Gravity. With the introduction of USDC, DeFi protocols in the ecosystem will have a single stablecoin to turn to, and Noble hopes this could inject new liquidity into the ecosystem. CEO of Noble, Jelena Djuric, stated, 

"It's also for the users themselves to have a seamless process of accessing native assets in the ecosystem. At the end of the day, we're seeking to rectify the challenges that users and app chains face when interacting with bridge assets."

Cosmos has seen a flurry of activity in recent months. In January, Injective Protocol launched a $150 million fund to promote further user adoption of the Cosmos ecosystem. The fund was backed by the likes of Jump Crypto, Pantera Capital, and others known for investing in blockchain projects. February saw the allocation of $40 million by the Cosmos Interchain Foundation to promote the development of core infrastructure and applications for the Cosmos ecosystem. 

Circle had first stated its intention to launch USDC on Cosmos as early as September of last year. Furthermore, the decision to launch USDC on Cosmos is also linked to the fact that the lending protocol dYdX will soon be moving from Ethereum to the Cosmos IBC. Djuric added, 

"We're very much doing this in preparation for dYdX's launch. We see this as a huge moment for the Cosmos and the app chain thesis because this is a project that has already got a lot of success on Ethereum."

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.