According to Circle’s latest reserve report, about 75% of all USD Coin (USDC) reserves are held in US treasury bills.
Of the reserves, $12,79 billion are in the Circle Reserve Fund, a government money market fund owned by Circle and managed by BlackRock. The fund’s holdings included 12 US treasury bills as of Nov. 30th, per its attestation.
Circle launched its Reserve Fund on Nov. 3rd, transferring around 29.5% of its stablecoin reserves in less than a month. Since then, Blackrock’s disclosures information shows that “USDC reserves invested in the Circle Reserve Fund have risen to around $28.6 billion, or 65%.”
Popular crypto analyst John Paul Koning called it a ‘win’ for USDC users, adding:
Circle is yielding some of its control over USDC’s reserves to an external manager subject to SEC regulation, which ultimately makes USDC safer. Transparency improves too, since USDC users can now get regular updates from BlackRock.
Another $19.31 billion worth of USDC reserves were held as direct treasury bills as of Nov. 30th. Treasury bills are widely regarded as the safest asset in existence. The proportion of USDC reserves held in T-bills on aggregate is up to $32.2 billion, which is around 75% of total reserves. Tether T-bills are similarly above 70%, per the latest attestation.
Another $11.15 billion of the stablecoin’s reserves were stored as cash at US-regulated financial institutions, which include the financially distressed Silvergate Bank, among others.
Following the FTX implosion Tether’s market dominance reached all time highs. While being a direct USDC competitor, Tether’s USDT is currently the dominant stablecoin in crypto. In a report, JPM analysts said Tether is a structurally important asset in the stablecoin world.
Tether’s importance is not only confined to its market cap share in the stablecoin universe but also depends on its usage.
