S&P Global Ratings assesses the ability of USDC to maintain its peg to the U.S. dollar at 2 (strong). USDC is issued by Circle Internet Financial LLC (Circle). Our asset assessment is 1 (very strong). USDC benefits from full backing by low-risk assets, primarily short-dated securities and deposits with banks. These are held mainly at SEC-registered Circle Reserve Fund (CRF) at BlackRock. As of Sept. 29, 2023, the collateralization ratio stood above 100%. The audited report shows 36% of assets held in treasuries, 56% in repurchase agreements, and 9% in cash. Overall, 5% of assets are cash held outside the CRF at regulated financial institutions. The stablecoin stability assessment is 2 (strong) to reflect our view of insufficient precedent on whether assets would be protected in the event of bankruptcy of Circle. This is although Circle reports that USDC's underlying reserves are segregated from its other assets.