stablecoin collateral asset
USDC
USD Coin is tracked as collateral exposure with issuer, redemption, deployment, and dependency assumptions separated from protocol-level findings.
reviewedhigh
Exposure
$10.80B
Mapped usage across reviewed markets.
Deployments
5
Ethereum
Controls
4
Issuer, admin, wrapper, and redemption controls.
Market usage
22
Protocol markets referencing this asset.
Asset facts
Typed fields that define the asset risk surface.
NameUSD Coin
IssuerCircle
Typestablecoin
Canonical chainEthereum
BackingFiat-backed stablecoin with issuer-managed mint, burn, blacklist, and redemption controls.
RedemptionRedemption is issuer-mediated through Circle accounts and supported venues.
Review statusreviewed
Deployments
Canonical chain and cross-chain deployment footprint.
| Chain | Role | Settlement | L2 stage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ethereum | canonical | Ethereum L1 | Not applicable |
| Arbitrum One | deployment | Ethereum L1 | Stage 1 |
| Base | deployment | Ethereum L1 | Stage 1 |
| OP Mainnet | deployment | Ethereum L1 | Stage 1 |
| Polygon PoS | deployment | Ethereum contracts + validator set | Not documented |
Protocol market exposure
Markets where this asset is accepted as collateral.
| Protocol | Market | Chain | LTV | Liquidation | Supply cap | Borrow cap | Utilization |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aave V3 | Ethereum core pool | Ethereum | 78% | 83% | $8.00B | $5.20B | 74.0% |
| Aave V3 | Base core pool | Base | 75% | 80% | $2.60B | $1.50B | 69.0% |
| Aave V3 | Arbitrum core pool | Arbitrum One | 75% | 81% | $3.40B | $2.10B | 72.0% |
| Compound III | Base USDC Comet | Base | 76% | 82% | $850.0M | $540.0M | 81.0% |
| Morpho Blue | wstETH/USDC vault markets | Ethereum | 77% | 82% | $2.10B | $1.40B | 88.0% |
| Morpho Blue | Base cbETH/USDC markets | Base | 72% | 78% | $900.0M | $520.0M | 76.0% |
| Morpho Blue | sUSDe leveraged stable markets | Ethereum | 72% | 77% | $1.00B | $700.0M | 90.0% |
| Spark | Base stable markets | Base | 75% | 80% | $780.0M | $450.0M | 58.0% |
| Sky / Maker | DAI/USDS backing system | Ethereum | 66% | 72% | $6.00B | $3.80B | 62.0% |
| Curve | Stablecoin pools | Ethereum | 0% | 0% | $1.90B | $0 | 52.0% |
| Uniswap V3 | Major Ethereum pools | Ethereum | 0% | 0% | $2.40B | $0 | 57.0% |
| Uniswap V3 | Base major pools | Base | 0% | 0% | $820.0M | $0 | 61.0% |
| Ethena | USDe and sUSDe issuance | Ethereum | 0% | 0% | $4.40B | $0 | 77.0% |
| Frax Finance | FRAX stablecoin and lending | Ethereum | 72% | 78% | $900.0M | $520.0M | 63.0% |
| Silo | Ethereum LST silos | Ethereum | 70% | 76% | $360.0M | $230.0M | 66.0% |
| Silo | Arbitrum stable silos | Arbitrum One | 72% | 78% | $190.0M | $90.0M | 52.0% |
| Euler V2 | Ethereum EVK vaults | Ethereum | 74% | 80% | $780.0M | $490.0M | 70.0% |
| Balancer | Ethereum boosted LST pools | Ethereum | 0% | 0% | $620.0M | $0 | 47.0% |
| Coinbase cbETH | cbETH issuance and markets | Base | 0% | 0% | $1.40B | $0 | 55.0% |
| LayerZero | OFT-linked collateral paths | Ethereum | 0% | 0% | $1.30B | $0 | 86.0% |
| Wormhole | Bridged asset routes | Ethereum | 0% | 0% | $900.0M | $0 | 64.0% |
| Across | Cross-chain bridge liquidity | Ethereum | 0% | 0% | $640.0M | $0 | 58.0% |
Risk findings
Asset-level assumptions with explicit evidence and outcome text.
| Severity | Dimension | Finding | Outcome | Evidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| high | asset issuer | Issuer can freeze balances | Funds can be frozen. | USDC has issuer-operated blacklist controls that can affect token transferability. | |
| medium | bridge wrapper | Native and bridged deployments differ | A bridge or canonical mint path can transmit chain-specific risk. | USDC deployments use different chain and mint models across networks. |
Dependency edges
Issuer, wrapper, backing, bridge, oracle, and protocol paths touching this asset.
| Severity | Direction | Edge type | Dependency path | Analyst label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| high | inbound | backs | USDe -> USDC | USDe backing can include stable collateral and hedged positions |
| medium | outbound | settles on | USDC -> Arbitrum One | USDC deployment inherits Arbitrum One chain assumptions |
| medium | outbound | settles on | USDC -> Base | USDC deployment inherits Base chain assumptions |
| medium | outbound | settles on | USDC -> OP Mainnet | USDC deployment inherits OP Mainnet chain assumptions |
| medium | outbound | settles on | USDC -> Polygon PoS | USDC deployment inherits Polygon PoS chain assumptions |
| medium | inbound | accepts collateral | Aave V3 -> USDC | Aave V3 Ethereum core pool accepts USDC as collateral or core liquidity |
| medium | inbound | accepts collateral | Aave V3 -> USDC | Aave V3 Base core pool accepts USDC as collateral or core liquidity |
| medium | inbound | accepts collateral | Aave V3 -> USDC | Aave V3 Arbitrum core pool accepts USDC as collateral or core liquidity |
| medium | inbound | accepts collateral | Compound III -> USDC | Compound III Base USDC Comet accepts USDC as collateral or core liquidity |
| medium | inbound | accepts collateral | Morpho Blue -> USDC | Morpho Blue wstETH/USDC vault markets accepts USDC as collateral or core liquidity |
| medium | inbound | accepts collateral | Morpho Blue -> USDC | Morpho Blue Base cbETH/USDC markets accepts USDC as collateral or core liquidity |
| medium | inbound | accepts collateral | Morpho Blue -> USDC | Morpho Blue sUSDe leveraged stable markets accepts USDC as collateral or core liquidity |
| medium | inbound | accepts collateral | Spark -> USDC | Spark Base stable markets accepts USDC as collateral or core liquidity |
| medium | inbound | accepts collateral | Sky / Maker -> USDC | Sky / Maker DAI/USDS backing system accepts USDC as collateral or core liquidity |
| medium | inbound | accepts collateral | Curve -> USDC | Curve Stablecoin pools accepts USDC as collateral or core liquidity |
| medium | inbound | accepts collateral | Uniswap V3 -> USDC | Uniswap V3 Major Ethereum pools accepts USDC as collateral or core liquidity |
| medium | inbound | accepts collateral | Uniswap V3 -> USDC | Uniswap V3 Base major pools accepts USDC as collateral or core liquidity |
| medium | inbound | accepts collateral | Ethena -> USDC | Ethena USDe and sUSDe issuance accepts USDC as collateral or core liquidity |
| medium | inbound | accepts collateral | Frax Finance -> USDC | Frax Finance FRAX stablecoin and lending accepts USDC as collateral or core liquidity |
| medium | inbound | backs | DAI -> USDC | DAI has historically depended on stablecoin and peg-module liquidity |
| medium | inbound | depends on | PYUSD -> USDC | PYUSD liquidity often routes through major USD stablecoin markets |
| low | outbound | settles on | USDC -> Ethereum | USDC deployment inherits Ethereum chain assumptions |
Blast radius
Highest-severity mapped paths that could propagate asset risk.
| Severity | Direction | Edge type | Dependency path | Analyst label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| high | inbound | backs | USDe -> USDC | USDe backing can include stable collateral and hedged positions |
| medium | outbound | settles on | USDC -> Arbitrum One | USDC deployment inherits Arbitrum One chain assumptions |
| medium | outbound | settles on | USDC -> Base | USDC deployment inherits Base chain assumptions |
| medium | outbound | settles on | USDC -> OP Mainnet | USDC deployment inherits OP Mainnet chain assumptions |
| medium | outbound | settles on | USDC -> Polygon PoS | USDC deployment inherits Polygon PoS chain assumptions |
| medium | inbound | accepts collateral | Aave V3 -> USDC | Aave V3 Ethereum core pool accepts USDC as collateral or core liquidity |
| medium | inbound | accepts collateral | Aave V3 -> USDC | Aave V3 Base core pool accepts USDC as collateral or core liquidity |
| medium | inbound | accepts collateral | Aave V3 -> USDC | Aave V3 Arbitrum core pool accepts USDC as collateral or core liquidity |
| medium | inbound | accepts collateral | Compound III -> USDC | Compound III Base USDC Comet accepts USDC as collateral or core liquidity |
| medium | inbound | accepts collateral | Morpho Blue -> USDC | Morpho Blue wstETH/USDC vault markets accepts USDC as collateral or core liquidity |
| medium | inbound | accepts collateral | Morpho Blue -> USDC | Morpho Blue Base cbETH/USDC markets accepts USDC as collateral or core liquidity |
| medium | inbound | accepts collateral | Morpho Blue -> USDC | Morpho Blue sUSDe leveraged stable markets accepts USDC as collateral or core liquidity |
| medium | inbound | accepts collateral | Spark -> USDC | Spark Base stable markets accepts USDC as collateral or core liquidity |
| medium | inbound | accepts collateral | Sky / Maker -> USDC | Sky / Maker DAI/USDS backing system accepts USDC as collateral or core liquidity |
| medium | inbound | accepts collateral | Curve -> USDC | Curve Stablecoin pools accepts USDC as collateral or core liquidity |
| medium | inbound | accepts collateral | Uniswap V3 -> USDC | Uniswap V3 Major Ethereum pools accepts USDC as collateral or core liquidity |
| medium | inbound | accepts collateral | Uniswap V3 -> USDC | Uniswap V3 Base major pools accepts USDC as collateral or core liquidity |
| medium | inbound | accepts collateral | Ethena -> USDC | Ethena USDe and sUSDe issuance accepts USDC as collateral or core liquidity |
| medium | inbound | accepts collateral | Frax Finance -> USDC | Frax Finance FRAX stablecoin and lending accepts USDC as collateral or core liquidity |
| medium | inbound | backs | DAI -> USDC | DAI has historically depended on stablecoin and peg-module liquidity |
| medium | inbound | depends on | PYUSD -> USDC | PYUSD liquidity often routes through major USD stablecoin markets |
| low | outbound | settles on | USDC -> Ethereum | USDC deployment inherits Ethereum chain assumptions |