[ZKsync] Support native USDC on Venus Core Pool

Summary

One of the ZKsync core dev teams, Matter Labs, is proposing that Venus include the USDC stablecoin as a core lending market within the Venus Core pool on the ZKsync Era blockchain.

Rationale

With native USDC now available on ZKsync Era, its liquidity is expanding and starting to replace the bridged USDC liquidity from Ethereum (USDC.e).

Motivations

USDC is designed to represent U.S. dollars on-chain, fully backed by cash and cash-equivalent assets and can be redeemed at a 1:1 ratio through Circle. Circle provides monthly attestation reports regarding USDC reserves on its Transparency page.

Currently, USDC.e is available on the Venus Core pool of ZKsync Era which is a bridged version of USDC from Ethereum. USDC.e differs from native USDC and is not supported by Circle’s products. USDC.e cannot be sent to a Circle deposit address, and to off-ramp to fiat currency, you would need to “unbridge” it back to the Ethereum blockchain. This leads to increased fees and a subpar user experience.

By adding native USDC, Venus can offer the version that Circle customers can mint directly on ZKsync Era via their Circle accounts and APIs. Circle customers can also seamlessly off-ramp this version to fiat from their Circle accounts. Also, if/when the Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP) is implemented on ZKsync Era, the bridging to and from different blockchains and capital efficiency would be improved.

Ultimately, as native USDC becomes more widely used on ZKsync Era, it can enhance the liquidity, usage, and user-friendliness of the Venus protocol.

Specifications:

Contract Address: 0x1d17CBcF0D6D143135aE902365D2E5e2A16538D4

We encourage the Venus community to support this proposal, and we look forward to hearing your feedback.