What is the difference between paying with USDC and USDT for a hotel booking?
USDC and USDT are both dollar-pegged stablecoins, but trip1 supports USDC under EU MiCA rules. USDT is not currently a supported payment method.
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What USDC and USDT are
Both USDC and USDT are stablecoins designed to track the US dollar at a 1:1 rate. Day to day, their prices are nearly identical.
USDC (USD Coin) is issued by Circle and audited under US and EU rules. USDT (Tether) is issued by Tether Limited and is the largest stablecoin by trading volume.
Why trip1 supports USDC
trip1's payment provider, CoinGate, holds an EU MiCA license. CoinGate processes stablecoins that comply with MiCA's reserve and disclosure requirements. USDC currently meets that bar in the EU; USDT does not.
Practically, that means USDC payments on trip1 sit inside the same EU regulatory framework as a card payment - audited reserves, licensed processors, and clear consumer protections.
What this means for your booking
If you hold USDC, you can pay any trip1 booking directly. Pick a supported network (Ethereum, Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism, or Base) at checkout and send the exact amount.
If you only hold USDT, swap it for USDC on an exchange or a decentralized swap app. The conversion is usually 1:1 minus a small spread, and once you hold USDC you can pay normally.
USDC vs USDT for Hotel Bookings - FAQ
USDC. You can pay any trip1 booking directly with USDC on Ethereum, Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism or Base. Pick the network at checkout, send the exact amount from your wallet, and your booking confirms once the transaction settles on-chain.
Yes. Circle, which issues USDC, became MiCA compliant in July 2024 through an e-money licence from France's banking regulator, the ACPR. CoinGate, which processes trip1's crypto payments, is authorised under MiCA by the Bank of Lithuania, so USDC payments on trip1 stay inside the EU's regulatory framework.
It is designed to be. Circle says USDC is backed 100% by cash and cash-equivalent assets and can be redeemed 1:1 for US dollars, so its price stays very close to one dollar day to day. That is why the USDC amount you send to trip1 matches the dollar price at checkout.
Circle issues USDC. It holds reserves equal to or greater than the USDC in circulation, mostly in a government money market fund and cash, and publishes monthly reserve attestations by a Big Four accounting firm. In the EU, Circle's French entity issues USDC under MiCA.
Stablecoins are used to send and hold dollar value on a blockchain without the price swings of Bitcoin or Ethereum. Common uses include payments, moving money between exchanges and wallets, and sending funds abroad quickly. On trip1, USDC lets you pay a fixed hotel price in crypto.