Crypto Exchange Coinbase Waives Fees for Converting Between USDC and Fiat, Eyeing Global Audience

The company hopes the move will encourage wider global adoption of the stablecoin it helped invent.

By Elizabeth Napolitano

Oct 20, 2022 at 5:04 p.m. UTC

Updated Oct 20, 2022 at 6:35 p.m. UTC

USDC flag — USDC is a dollar-backed stablecoin administered by the Circle- and Coinbase-led Centre Consortium. (Centre Consortium)

Elizabeth Napolitano

Elizabeth Napolitano is a news reporter at CoinDesk.

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Publicly traded crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) will waive commission fees for USD coin (USDC) sales and purchases made in any fiat currency in a push to promote the wider global adoption of its stablecoin, it said in a blog post Thursday.

The company's policy change is effective immediately.

“Users usually have to pay fees in the process of converting their local currency into USDC, and this is a barrier to broader international adoption,” the post read. “The way to correct this, and accelerate adoption of USDC internationally, is by establishing global parity for all users.”

Coinbase’s decision to promote USDC (which it issues as a co-founder of the Centre Consortium) comes at a time when inflation is on the rise globally, with consumers in rich countries and poor feeling the heat of rising prices. That has prompted some to move their volatile fiat currencies into stablecoins such as USDC, which is pegged in value to the U.S. dollar.

The push to accelerate global adoption follows reports that USDC’s market share is falling in part because of pressure from Binance, a crypto exchange that has been aggressively promoting its own stablecoin as an alternative to USDC.

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