The US-based cryptocurrency exchange platform has opened the network deposit service for the widely used (USDC), the second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization after .
For now, only USDC deposits are available on KuCoin, but Polkadot developer Velocity Labs said they are working hard to enable withdrawals soon.
Velocity Labs is dedicated to building the Polkadot ecosystem into an on-ramp for the DeFi space. As an ecosystem developer and startup studio, the company is focused on building the infrastructure, tools, and products needed to power DeFi applications on Polkadot.
USDC has become the most issued native stablecoin on Polkadot, but gaining easy access to Circle’s flagship product has been a hurdle to wider adoption.
The move comes just a year after Circle introduced USDC to the Polkadot parachain ecosystem, expanding the stablecoin’s native availability to more blockchains.
Known for its interoperability, Polkadot connects multiple application-specific blockchains, called parachains.
Circle issued the native version of USDC on the Polkadot Asset Hub, a “system parachain” designed as an asset issuance platform for the ecosystem. The hub allows the stablecoin to be transferred between parachains via the XCM protocol. As a result, all interconnected parachains within the Polkadot ecosystem, along with their users, now have access to the dollar-backed stablecoin.
Like other blockchain integrations, Polkadot support keeps USD Coin an interoperable cryptocurrency while also supporting low-fee payments.
USDC is the second-largest stablecoin in the cryptocurrency market, with a market cap of around $34 billion. The largest stablecoin, Tether’s USDT, has a market cap of $117 billion.
Circle, the issuer of USDC, operates as a regulated money transmitter and holds licenses across the United States. This was a key consideration for KuCoin, especially after the platform and two of its founders were charged in March by U.S. federal prosecutors for violating anti-money laundering laws.
The CFTC also filed a parallel civil action against KuCoin, alleging that the exchange illegally operated a digital asset derivatives platform.
