Coinspeaker
Coinbase Plans One-to-one Conversion of EUR to EURC
As of August 28, 2024, American cryptocurrency exchange and publicly traded company Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ: COIN) will enable one-to-one ratio conversion between fiat euro (EUR) and the euro-pegged stablecoin EURC. Just like USDC, which is pegged to the United States dollar, EURC is backed by euros’ value.
EUR-stablecoins Challenges USD-stablecoin Dominance
In an email, the exchange confirmed that EURC complies with the European Union’s new Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation. It is worth noting that conversion on Coinbase Advanced will not have any associated fees. A day after enabling the conversion, Coinbase plans to introduce a new EURC-USDC order book. This listing will simultaneously follow the deprecation of its existing EURC-EUR and EURC-USD order books.
“These changes are designed to enable the most efficient conversion and trading between fiat and stablecoins,” Coinbase noted.
USD-pegged stablecoin currently dominates the stablecoin sectors, but euro-pegged stablecoins might have a place as the leader of non-USD stablecoins. As it stands, EUR-pegged stablecoins make up 92% of the supply of all stablecoins on Ethereum. This is when USD-pegged stablecoin is excluded.
On the one hand, there are concerns that MiCA’s entry into the industry could propel EUR stablecoins to challenge the dominance of USD variants. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino noted this concern after Patrick Hansen, Director of Strategy and Policy at Circle, shared some data comparing both assets. In June, Hansen took to X to note that Euro stablecoins have hit an All-time High (ATH) regarding euro-dominated crypto transactions.
Specifically, 1.1% of EUR-denominated crypto transactions are done using EUR-stablecoins. Ardoino is also concerned that MiCA’s requirements could make EU-licensed stablecoins vulnerable and riskier. For now, USD-backed stablecoin is currently performing well in the market.
USD-pegged Stablecoin Gains Ground
The stablecoin market has started gaining grounds among traditional financial services giants. PayPal’s stablecoin PYUSD experienced massive growth on the Solana blockchain in July. DefiLlama data revealed that Solana-based PYUSD stablecoins saw a 230% increase in their total circulating supply in July. Since their debut on May 29, they have reached a supply of nearly $252 million.
On the other hand, Ethereum-based PYUSD tokens, which launched in August 2023, have a total circulating supply of $329 million. Therefore, 56.6% of the total supply is on Ethereum, while the remaining 43.4% is on Solana.
Blockchain payment company Ripple Labs Inc is still in the process of launching its USD-pegged stablecoin RLUSD. It recently launched a website for the offering, marking a milestone for the proposed stablecoin. On the flip side, there are concerns that RLUSD might catch the attention of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Despite the lurking securities concerns for RLUSD, the XRP community believes that the coming of the stablecoin may imply an end to all forms of Ripple’s legal debacle with the regulator.
