.png){kind=logo}
Do not invest unless you are prepared to lose all the money you invest. Cryptoassets are high-risk investments, and you should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong. Take two minutes to learn more. Additionally, capital gains tax may apply to profits from cryptocurrency sales.
Contents:
To buy USDC in the UK, you’ll need to:
We’ve compiled a list of the best places to buy USDC in the UK. These are platforms, wallets, apps and websites where you can buy USD Coin (USDC), Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies in the UK.
Please remember that cryptoassets are highly volatile, unregulated investment products with no UK or EU investor protection. You could lose all the money you put into them. Additionally, capital gains tax may apply to profits from cryptocurrency sales.
Here are the best places to buy USDC in the UK:
Coinbase is a cryptocurrency exchange that allows you to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and other DeFi products and keep track of them in one place. With Coinbase, you have over 240 cryptocurrencies to choose from, including popular coins and tokens like Bitcoin, Ethereum, USD Coin, Tether, Dogecoin and Polygon. You can also trade new or rare coins that may not be available on other crypto exchanges. New cryptocurrencies are added to the Coinbase exchange as frequently as every few days.
Coinbase also gives you access to a self-custody crypto wallet where you can store all your crypto and NFTs in one place. The Coinbase Wallet also supports hundreds of thousands of tokens and dApps, and users can use DeFi liquidity pools to supply or borrow crypto and swap assets on decentralised exchanges. Coinbase offers a crypto card powered by an FCA-licensed e-money institution. With the Coinbase card, you can spend crypto like cash anywhere Visa cards are accepted. If you are interested in learning about how specific cryptocurrencies work, you can take advantage of Coinbase’s earn feature, which rewards you with a tiny bit of crypto for completing online courses on cryptocurrencies. The Coinbase desktop and mobile apps are beautifully designed, easy to use, and offer a range of products that are suitable for beginners, advanced crypto traders, and businesses.
There are multiple fees involved when trading crypto on Coinbase. Fees are calculated at the time you place your order and may be determined by a combination of factors, including the selected payment method, the size of the order, and market conditions such as volatility and liquidity. For basic trading, fees will be listed in the trade preview screen before you submit your transaction and may differ for similar transactions. For advanced trading, Coinbase charges a Maker fee ranging from 0.40% to 0.00% and a Taker fee ranging from 0.60% to 0.05%, depending on the size of your order. The larger the order size, the smaller the fee on a percentage basis. Coinbase also offers commission-free USDC trading.
Please note: Do not invest unless you are prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment, and you should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong. Take two minutes to learn more. Cryptoassets are not regulated by the FCA and are not subject to protection under the FSCS or within the scope of jurisdiction of the Financial Ombudsman Service. Capital gains tax may apply to profits from cryptocurrency sales.
CoinJar is a cryptocurrency app and exchange based in the UK and Australia. With CoinJar, you can trade or invest in 50+ cryptocurrencies, including popular coins such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, USD Coin, Dogecoin and Shiba Inu Coin. The CoinJar app, which doubles as a crypto wallet, allows you to buy, sell, hold, spend and transfer cryptocurrencies securely on your desktop, iOS or Android device. The CoinJar card lets you make purchases with your crypto, online and in-store, anywhere Mastercard is accepted. It is free to activate the CoinJar card, and there are no monthly fees for using it. When paying with the card, your crypto is automatically converted to fiat currency using CoinJar’s best rates at the time of the transaction. You can choose to have a virtual or physical card or both. The CoinJar card is fully integrated with Google Pay, so Android users can spend crypto instantly and securely with any device.
CoinJar has a unique feature called a Crypto Bundle. A Crypto Bundle is a themed basket of cryptocurrencies, similar to a crypto index fund, crypto ETF or a ready-made stock portfolio. For example, you can buy a CoinJar Universe bundle, which is a portfolio of all the cryptocurrencies available on CoinJar. One investment into such a bundle means you have invested in every cryptocurrency available on CoinJar with just a click of a button. Crypto Bundles can either be proportional, where the weight of each cryptocurrency in a bundle is equal or cap-allocated, where the weights are allocated based on market cap performance.
CoinJar is suitable for both beginners and advanced traders. Beginners can take advantage of the easy-to-use app and ready-made crypto portfolios, while advanced and professional traders can take advantage of CoinJar’s institutional-grade crypto solutions, such as the CoinJar OTC, with razor-thin spreads and globally sourced liquidity. The minimum deposit to open an account with CoinJar is £10. Deposits are made in GBP, so FX fees do not apply. There is a trading fee of 1% on the CoinJar mobile app and website. The CoinJar Exchange (for market orders and aggressive limit orders) charges 0.00% for Taker orders and 0.10% - 0.04% for Maker orders (limit orders).
Please note: Do not invest unless you are prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment, and you should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong. Take two minutes to learn more. Cryptoassets are not regulated by the FCA and are not subject to protection under the FSCS or within the scope of jurisdiction of the Financial Ombudsman Service. Capital gains tax may apply to profits from cryptocurrency sales.
Uphold is a beginner-friendly cryptocurrency exchange that allows you to buy and sell over 250 cryptocurrencies, including majors, altcoins and emerging tokens such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Dogecoin, Polkadot, ApeCoin, PancakeSwap and Audius. Users can also buy and sell up to 3 national currencies, including GBP, EUR and USD and enjoy competitive forex rates. Uphold offers a free virtual crypto card that allows you to spend your crypto anywhere a Mastercard is accepted. With the Uphold crypto card, you receive up to 1% cashback on your card transactions paid to you in GBP. The card has no transaction fees when spending locally or internationally and can be easily linked to Apple Pay or Google Pay.
As an Uphold customer, you can earn staking rewards when you put your digital assets to work. Currently, customers can earn up to 13% APY. Please keep in mind that staking rates are variable and may change at Uphold’s discretion. Uphold offers crypto wallets for up to seven cryptocurrencies and crypto networks. Customers can store their crypto in the Uphold Bitcoin Wallet, Ethereum Wallet, XRP Wallet and many more. With Uphold, you can schedule regular transactions using AutoPilot, which allows you to set up recurring buy or sell orders and reduce the impact of price volatility. As an Uphold customer, you can also take advantage of the limit order feature, which allows you to buy or sell a cryptocurrency at a specified price. Customers can place up to 50 limit orders using one pool of capital.
There are multiple fees involved when trading crypto on Uphold. The most important fees to look out for are trading fees, FX fees, and market spreads. In the UK, US and Europe, Uphold charges a market spread ranging from 0.9% to 1.2% on BTC and ETH. Spreads can be significantly higher for low-liquidity cryptos and tokens such as XRP, ZIL, OXT, UPT, DOGE and others. You will be able to see the total cost of your trade before you place the trade. Uphold charges a withdrawal fee of $3.99 for bank transfers and $2.99 for crypto transfers. Visit Uphold to learn more.
Please note: Do not invest unless you are prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment, and you should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong. Take two minutes to learn more. Cryptoassets are not regulated by the FCA and are not subject to protection under the FSCS or within the scope of jurisdiction of the Financial Ombudsman Service. Capital gains tax may apply to profits from cryptocurrency sales.
Kraken is a crypto exchange that allows you to trade and invest in over 200 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, XRP, USD Coin, and Litecoin. The platform is robust and will accommodate the needs of both beginners and experienced crypto traders. Beginners or newbie crypto traders can benefit from Kraken’s slick and easy-to-navigate mobile apps, wide range of educational materials, and 24/7 customer support. Advanced traders can take advantage of Kraken Pro, which provides access to spot, margin, futures trading, and staking in an all-in-one powerful interface that boasts low spreads and deep liquidity across markets. Advanced traders can also benefit from Kraken’s risk management tools, including Limit, Market, and Advanced (Stop Loss and Take Profit) Orders, to better manage positions, protect investments and secure profits.
Kraken allows you to earn staking rewards when you put your cryptocurrencies to work. Currently, customers can earn up to 24% in rewards annually by staking digital assets with Kraken. Please keep in mind that this rate is subject to change and compliance with Kraken’s terms and conditions. Additionally, to help customers feel more secure about trading on Kraken, the platform regularly publishes its proof of reserves audits, making it easy for customers to verify that the balances they hold are backed by real assets.
It is entirely free to open an account with Kraken. However, your first trade must be worth at least US$10 (£8). Kraken charges multiple fees depending on the assets you buy and how you choose to trade: If you trade via the mobile app using the basic features, a Maker fee ranging from 0.20% to 0.00% and a Taker fee ranging from 0.26% to 0.001% will apply, depending on the type and size of your order. The larger the order size, the smaller the fee on a percentage basis and vice versa. Other fees such as withdrawal, FX, and instant buy fees may apply.
Please note: Do not invest unless you are prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment, and you should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong. Take two minutes to learn more. Cryptoassets are not regulated by the FCA and are not subject to protection under the FSCS or within the scope of jurisdiction of the Financial Ombudsman Service. Capital gains tax may apply to profits from cryptocurrency sales.
Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies pegged on a one-to-one basis to a “stable” reserve asset like the US dollar, euro, yuan or gold. They are designed to reduce the volatility associated with cryptocurrencies.
Theoretically, one stablecoin should almost always equal the value of the reserve asset it is pegged to (i.e. 1 USDC = 1 USD). This way, one can spend, hold or gift stablecoins without worrying about the price volatility associated with unpegged cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum.
This is especially beneficial for people in developing countries where the national currencies are unstable. Stablecoins also serve as a safe haven for crypto traders in times of extreme volatility.
Almost all stablecoins work by holding reserves of the pegged currency in a bank account, meaning that the digital currency is fully backed by the equivalent fiat currency.
There have been attempts to create stablecoins not backed by fiat currency, known as algorithmic stablecoins. These have yet to prove successful, with one of the most high-profile being Terra USD, which recently collapsed.
While cryptocurrency prices can fluctuate wildly on a daily basis, reserve-backed stablecoins like USDC are generally much less volatile, hence the name.
USD Coin or USDC is a stablecoin pegged on a one-to-one basis to the US dollar. The idea behind this is that one should always be able to exchange 1 USDC for US$1 (at least, in theory).
In reality, there are some minor fluctuations in the price of USDC, but this is simply an issue of supply and demand, with traders sometimes prepared to pay slightly more than $1 or accept slightly less than $1 in order to facilitate their trade quickly.
The range at which USDC trades is, however, very tight as it generally trades within a small fraction of a percent of $1.
Launched in September 2018, USDC is a stablecoin backed by cash and dollar-denominated assets of at least equal, fair value to the USDC in circulation in segregated accounts with US-regulated financial institutions. According to the creators, such accounts are verified publicly by an independent accounting firm.
USD Coin was created by the Centre consortium, a partnership between peer-to-peer payment services company, Circle, and cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase.
According to the Centre Consortium, every USDC on the internet is 100% backed by cash and short-term US treasuries, so it is “theoretically” always redeemable 1:1 for US dollars.
USDC reserves are held in the custody and management of leading US financial institutions, including BlackRock and BNY Mellon. Each month, Grant Thornton LLP, one of America’s largest audit, tax and advisory firms, provides third-party assurance as to the size of the USDC reserve.
USDC maintains its peg to the US dollar by burning and minting new coins in conjunction with deposits and withdrawals. If you were to buy USDC in the UK with British pounds (GBP), new USDC would be minted as your GBP was converted into US dollars and deposited into a bank account.
The same happens in reverse. If you were to withdraw your USDC back to GBP, that USDC would be burned as it would no longer be backed by real currency.
The way a reserve-backed stablecoin works is almost identical whether you are looking at USDC vs USDT (TetherUSD) or other stablecoins such as BUSD (BinanceUSD).
Here are some of the differences between USDC and USDT:
Trading volumes for USDT are generally higher, though this is partly because it has been around longer. USDT was created in 2014, while USDC began in 2018. This is not that important, as USDC also has a huge trading volume and is very liquid.
The main difference between USDC and USDT is transparency and, potentially, safety. Tether has generally been reluctant to release public audits of its holdings, and at one point, it even applied to the New York Supreme Court to block the release of this information.
Coinbase and Circle, on the other hand, have made significant efforts to be as open and transparent as possible, releasing monthly audit statements from global accounting firm Grant Thornton LLP.
Coinbase and Circle also use only cash and short-dated US treasury securities to hold their USDC reserves. In contrast, Tether currently holds only 82.45% of USDT reserves in cash or cash equivalents. The remainder of the USDT reserves comprises other assets such as secured loans, corporate bonds and precious metals.
Investors who buy USD Coin are looking to keep their money within the crypto environment while also aiming to limit their volatility. Even the biggest cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin and Ethereum, can be incredibly volatile.
Holding USDC means that the value of your crypto holdings will be much more stable, as the US dollar, which USDC is pegged to, is a very stable global currency.
There are many reasons why investors might want to do this. USDC can be used as a ‘safe-haven’ during a bear market or a crypto crash, which allows holders to sit on the sidelines and wait for a good time to ‘buy the dip’ in other cryptocurrencies.
It can also be an excellent way to easily transfer currencies across borders or for use by investors who live in countries where the currency is unstable and real US dollars are hard to come by.
USDC is also often used as a liquidity currency for trades without a direct market. For example, if a trader wants to exchange one small-cap currency for another, the exchange might not offer a direct trade between the two because the market is too small.
In these cases, it might be necessary to trade the first for USDC and then trade the USDC for the second one.
USDC is an ERC-20 token which means that it utilises the Ethereum blockchain. This is a common usage of the Ethereum blockchain, with many well-known cryptocurrencies using this standard.
Some other examples of ERC-20 tokens using the Ethereum blockchain include Tether USD (USDT), Chainlink (LINK) and Shiba Inu (SHIB).
On the risk spectrum within cryptocurrency, USDC is considered one of the safest currencies you can hold.
This is because it is fully backed by reserves of real US dollars, which is generally considered the safest fiat currency in the world. That said, no cryptocurrency is 100% safe, and neither is any other form of investment.
To buy USDC in the UK, you’ll need to:
You can buy USDC in the UK from the following crypto exchanges:
USD Coin is worth buying if you want a cryptocurrency pegged to the US dollar. It will not provide large gains but can serve many other useful purposes. Buying USDC allows investors to hold a low-volatility cryptocurrency that can be easily exchanged for US dollars and other cryptocurrencies. It can allow for easy and cost-effective cross-border movement of funds, access to US dollars in countries where this can be difficult to secure and help provide liquidity for investors in their portfolios.
USD Coin is not a fiat currency or legal tender in any country. However, it is fully backed by and redeemable for real US dollars, making it a good substitute as far as cryptocurrencies go.
Investors can make money by staking USDC. Staking is when an investor leaves their cryptocurrency on an exchange and receives rewards in return. Currently, Coinbase is offering a 1% APY for staking USDC on their platform. It is also possible to make money from USDC with the movements in the exchange rate. Because USDC is pegged to the US dollar, it can go up and down in value compared to other currencies, such as the British pound.
So far, USDC has fulfilled its promise as a stablecoin. At this stage, there are no indications or concerns about its position, and in the future, it looks to continue its role in the crypto sector. According to the Circle Consortium, there is currently $29.3B in reserves and 29.3B USDC in circulation (as of March 2024), making it very well capitalised for the future.
Yes, USDC can pay you interest. If you are prepared to stake USDC on an exchange, it will often pay a yield to the investor. Currently, Coinbase is offering a 1% APY for investors who stake USDC.
Staking rewards depend on the platform holding your USDC rather than the USDC itself. For investors who stake their USDC with Coinbase, the rewards are paid once a month based on the amount you staked the month before.
Yes, you can sell USD Coin for cash. Most exchanges will allow you to transfer your USDC back into fiat currencies such as US dollars or British pounds. When USDC is sold for cash, the tokens are burned to keep the supply equivalent to reserves being held.
The main risk of holding USDC in the UK is that it is tied to the US dollar. If the British pound weakens against the US dollar, your USDC will be worth less in British pound terms.
USDC makes money from the interest on the cash and cash equivalents it holds. For example, with the current reserves of approximately $47 billion, even if they only earned interest of 0.10% per year, that would equate to an income of $47 million.
As USDC utilises the Ethereum blockchain, most Ethereum-based wallets will allow investors to hold USDC. Examples of Ethereum-based wallets include Coinbase Wallet and MetaMask Wallet. All wallets are different, so it is important to double-check that yours is compatible with USDC before attempting to make a transfer.
Here are some of the best places to buy USDC in the UK:
The current price of USDC is $1.00 or £0.78 (at the time of writing). You can find the live price of one USD Coin at any point in time on CoinMarketCap.
Yes, you can buy USDC legally in the UK. While the UK’s financial watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), does not currently regulate cryptocurrencies, it displays a list of the crypto exchanges that are currently registered with it. Some of them include Coinbase, CoinJar, and Kraken.
Every month, we’ll send you The Plug - a curation of the best personal finance content in the UK. We share real-life stories, how-to guides, top personal finance news, popular community questions, and tips to help you stay on top of your money.
.png){kind=small}
