Account
Why your balance is in USDC
Updated 5/5/2026
All balances, trades, fees, and resolutions on Granbay are denominated in USDC, a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar. If you live in a region where Granbay also displays a local-fiat projection (e.g. Brazilian users see a BRL projection in pt-BR), that projection is a real-time conversion at the current exchange rate — it can change. Your USDC balance is what you actually hold.
What you see vs. what you own
Your balance card shows your USDC amount. Depending on your region, an optional local-fiat projection ("≈ $Y CAD" / "≈ R$Y" / "≈ ₹Y") may appear next to it. The USDC number is what you actually hold; the local-fiat number is what that USDC would be worth right now if you converted it back.
Trade prices, market resolutions, and fees use the same dual-display when a local-fiat projection is enabled for your region.
Why USDC as the unit of account
USDC is a stablecoin issued by Circle and pegged 1:1 to the US dollar. Using USDC as the platform's unit of account means a market resolution 30 days out doesn't expose Granbay to FX swings between deposit and payout. It also lets us reconcile every balance and ledger entry in one canonical currency.
When you deposit in your local fiat, it converts to USDC at the locked exchange rate at the moment you confirm payment. When you withdraw, USDC converts back to your local fiat at the locked rate at confirmation. The platform fee + a small spread cover the cost of running the conversion.
The exchange-rate risk is on you
If your local fiat strengthens against the dollar between your deposit and your withdrawal, you'll see less local fiat coming back than you put in. The opposite is true if your local fiat weakens. This is by design — your USDC balance is fixed; only the local-fiat projection moves.
If you'd rather not see any local-fiat projection, switch the display currency to USDC under /settings/display. The platform never converts your balance to local fiat on its own; the projection is purely visual.
- USDC = your actual balance, fixed.
- Local fiat = real-time projection, changes with FX.
- Conversion happens only at deposit + withdrawal time.
Where the FX rate comes from
Granbay sources USDC ↔ local-fiat rates from a tiered feed: Circle's USDC reference rate (primary), regional exchange aggregates as secondary fallbacks, and Coingecko as a final fallback. The platform refreshes the rate every 60 seconds.
If every upstream source goes stale at once, Granbay surfaces an admin alert and continues to honor any quote that was already locked in for an in-flight deposit or withdrawal — but you won't be able to start a new conversion until the feed recovers.