Crypto prime broker, Floating Point Group (FPG) has added support to the USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin on the Algorand blockchain, aiming for faster trade settlements and to streamline the flow of funds.
The USDCa integration allows FPG’s institutional traders to convert funds within seconds from their bank account or card network into stable tokens on the Algorand Blockchain .
As the company continues to add critical pieces of the prime brokerage stock, FPG's asset managers, proprietary traders and OTC desks can now leverage a “nearly-instantaneous and fully-programmatic settlement” outside the traditional banking system.
Additionally, USDCa helps resolve the issue of extremely-fragmented liquidity in cryptocurrency markets. Getting the best execution involves allowing internal transfers between exchanges and custodial venues as long as they are jointly supported by FPG and USDCa.
The move comes a few months after the stablecoin was launched on the Algorand (ALGO) blockchain, which reduced its reliance on Ethereum network that has offered the support for the native ERC-20 coin since inception.
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Acting as a sort of safe haven where crypto traders can park their assets in volatile markets, USDC is an Ethereum-based ERC-20 coin, which makes it easy for wallets, exchanges and other smart contracts to interact with the token.
USDC currently ranks as the second-largest stablecoin by market cap, and the 12th-biggest crypto asset with a capitalization of nearly $7.2 billion. The coin was developed as a joint venture comprising US crypto exchange, Coinbase and Payments firm, Circle.
"At the time of this release, it takes nearly 500 seconds to move USDC on Ethereum to an exchange like Coinbase. With USDCa, that time is less than 5 seconds. In the last year, Bitcoin's price has moved by more than 10% within 500 seconds X times, meaning that the speed of value transfer is more salient than ever for investors managing substantial balance sheets," said John Peurifoy, Floating Point Group CEO and Co-founder.
Floating Point Group is a New York-based cryptocurrency trading platform that leverages smart order routing to provide a “single point of access to digital currency markets.” The startup has recently raised $2 million from venture capital firms, serial angel investor, Naval Ravikant and many mainstream financial institutions.
