Optimism and USDC issuer Circle have announced native support for USDC on the Optimism Mainnet. This follows a partnership between the two entities, with the development to spur institutional on and off-ramps for the Ethereum layer 2 blockchain network.

The launch of USDC on the Optimism blockchain will be the official form of the stablecoin for the network. This means that Ethereum-bridged USDC will be labelled as USDC-e on block explorers until the native form is available.

Circle states that users will now be able to access a dollar-backed token that is “fully reserved and always redeemable 1:1 for US dollars.” The addition of USDC liquidity is expected to further bolster the Optimism ecosystem by providing institutional on and off-ramps. Previous native USDC launches have occurred on Arbitrum in June, and on Base.

In response to the news, the price of OP has been largely muted. Data from CoinGecko shows that OP has fluctuated between $1.41 and $1.59 in the past week, with a current decrease of 5.3%.

The partnership between Optimism and Circle is likely to have a positive effect on the Optimism ecosystem. Native support for USDC is expected to spur institutional on and off-ramps, which may lead to an increase in liquidity and price.