USD Coin (USDC)

USD Coin is a stablecoin founded by a joint venture between non-other than one of the most well-known crypto brokers, Circle & Coinbase (backed by Goldman Sachs) crypto finance startup. 

Cost

Each coin is supposedly backed by $1 USD and can be redeemed at any time. The stablecoin was created with transparency in mind. 

Stability

USD Coin is defined by power of the dollar at the speed of crypto, which can be deliberately used as a stable coin with the power of crypto inside. Using a stable crypto means that the price of the coin will remain constant, that is, equal to $1.

Account Creation

Users can use the simple web app to set up an individual or institutional account. Circle is regulated and require KYC verification for each of their clients.

Funding

After the KYC process is finished, users can wire dollars from their bank account directly to their Circle USDC account.

Getting Your Tokens

Following the funding procedure, the dollars that were wired will be tokenized, turning them to USDC in a 1:1 ratio. USDC is an ERC-20 token and is compatible with all ERC-20 wallets and services.

Redeeming USDC for USD

All users have to do if they want to redeem their USD back is send back the tokens to their Circle USDC account and have their associated US dollars wired to their linked bank accounts.

It is important to note that USDC can also be obtained on any of the major exchanges that support it, including Coinbase and Binance.

There isn’t much depth to the USDC project. All things considered, it’s just a USD backed token based on Ethereum’s ERC20 standard. User can exchange fiat money for the USDC from the official website and can transfer their tokens to any supportive ERC20 token wallet.USDC can also be used as an intermediate in cryptocurrency exchanging. User can hold the USDC coin for stability.

Since USDC is an ERC-20 based token, it can be stored both on the Ledger and Trezor.

Ledger

As for using the Nano Ledger S, the first step towards setting up your device is unboxing you device and checking if you have received all the accessories with the device. Once you have unboxed your device, you need to configure it and initialize it before being able to use it. The process is quite simple and will hardly take about 20-30 minutes post which you will be set to use your Ledger Nano S device. This video does a pretty good job at explaining how the setup works.

Trezor

As for Trezor, installing is really simple. To properly install it users should attach the unit to the computer. After that continue with installing the  bridge which allows the Trezor to join with the computer. The first step is to connect the Trezor to device’s USB slot with the cable given in the box.  After that, go to myTrezor.com and proceed with installing the browser extension. Trezor can also be used on Android or an iPhone, or on a Windows or Mac computer. Now, initiate the extension and myTrezor will direct you to pick a PIN. After this, you will notice nine buttons but the numbers are hidden. After this, users should check the Trezor’s screen to recognize which numbers are in which place because it switches every time. Now set the PIN. Shortly after, Trezor should present a 24-word wallet “seed”. In short, one word at a time. Note down this seed and save it carefully. If your Trezor device malfunctions or is lost, you can utilize the seed to reconstruct the complete wallet. This video explains how to set up your trezor quite well. 

Exodus

First, we have Exodus, which supports a ton of other cryptocurrencies along with USDC and is pretty straightforward and easy to use. Just download the app from the official site(exodus.io) and get straight into creating your wallet.  Exodus stores your Private Keys on the machine you choose and not on any server, providing you with a relative peace of mind when it comes to the security of your coins. 

Atomic Wallet

Another option is Atomic Wallet.

Atomic Wallet is a desktop wallet built with security, anonymity and decentralization in mind. Atomic Wallet was designed to leverage the potential of atomic swaps and become part of a fully-fledged decentralized cryptocurrency ecosystem.  The “physical” wallet itself is a PC application that can be downloaded onto your computer. Your private keys and other data will then be stored on your PC in an encrypted form.

This means you hold your own keys, which are encrypted and kept only on your own device, control your own funds and can efficiently swap tokens without needing to go through a centralized exchange. This application then interacts with the blockchains of supported coins. For example, if you check your transaction history in the program, it looks it up on the blockchain and then shows it to you, rather than storing this potentially sensitive information somewhere.

As we already mentioned, USDC is based on the Ethereum ERC-20 standard which means that all ERC-20 supporting wallets can house your USDC. For an online-based wallet, we recommend MyEtherWallet. The wallet offers a brilliant combination of speed, trustworthiness and simplicity, making it the most popular online wallet for ether and any ERC20-based tokens.

MyEtherWallet

Simply visit myetherwallet.com and set up your wallet with a method of your choosing, just make sure to store your private key somewhere safe. It's wise to have it written down on paper in case your PC/notebook malfunctions.

The only downside to using an online wallet like MEW is that there are literally hundreds of phishing scams out there to get your eth, so you better double check the address everytime and make sure to watch out for any malicious activity on your browser or PC.

Circle/Coinbase

If for some reason you want to hold a stablecoin like USDC, you can get some through Circle or Coinbase, as we already mentioned. While holding USDC may not be a good idea for people actively on the look for returns, it can be a wise idea to turn all your holdings into USDC during a bear market if you want to have the flexibility of entering the market at any time without having to go through the process of converting fiat to BTC or ETH all over again. You can also trade pairs with it on most big exchanges, like Binance or Poloniex