[NEWS] USDC now available on Sony's Soneium

Sony has announced that it has entered into a strategic partnership with stablecoin issuing company Circle.

USDC will now be available on Soneium, an Ethereum (ETH) Layer 2 blockchain developed by Sony Block Solutions Labs.

USDC will be one of Soneium's main tokens.

Soneium was developed by Sony Block Solutions Labs and began operation in August. It aims to create a new network framework that utilizes distributed ledger technology.

Joel Hugentobler, a cryptocurrency analyst at US research firm Javelin Strategy & Research, said, "Sonium has established about 80 partnerships and collaborations within the ecosystem. One of the biggest hurdles in the adoption of cryptocurrencies is ease of use. Cryptocurrency holders should be able to use their cryptocurrencies without having to think about it. Sonium plans to solve this problem at the application layer, so partnering with a company in the stablecoin space makes a lot of sense." The partnership will integrate Bridged USDC, a version of a stablecoin that keeps the original USDC on the native Ethereum blockchain while creating a proxy on Sonium. The Bridge USDC protocol gives layer-2 developers more flexibility to work with and ensures that the stablecoin remains fully backed by the original deposits. "This collaboration marks an important milestone in Circle's mission to accelerate the adoption of our stablecoin and blockchain technology and enable creators to thrive through secure, user-friendly Web 3.0 experiences," Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said in a statement.

The stablecoin market is becoming increasingly competitive, with new entrants appearing daily. PayPal recently made headlines by announcing that it would introduce PYUSD.

The major payments company's entry into the stablecoin space reflects a broader trend of large corporations and financial institutions investing in cryptocurrencies and digital assets.

In addition, the launch of Ripple's new stablecoin, RippleUSD (RYUSD), is also highly anticipated. This stablecoin will be available on the XRP Ledger blockchain, which has more transactions per second compared to the Ethereum blockchain.

Increasing USDC's share

Currently, the stablecoin market is dominated by USDT, issued by Tether, which has a market capitalization of $118 billion (approximately 16.5 trillion yen).

Circle's USDC is second with $36 billion (approximately 5 trillion yen). This strategic partnership will allow Circle to popularize stablecoins within the large company Sony, leading to an expansion of market share.

Reference: Circle
Image: Shutterstock

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