Circle Ends Retail Customer Access To USDC Minting: What It Means For Crypto Investors?

The financial tech company Circle, which also manages the stablecoin USD Coin (USDC), has confirmed that it is discontinuing services for individual accounts to mint stablecoins.

Before the official confirmation, screenshots of an email supposedly sent by Circle to its customers circulated online.

Circle said in the email, "We are contacting you today with important information regarding your Consumer Circle Account." It added, "As part of Circle's strategic review, consumer-only Circle Accounts will no longer be supported. We will discontinue wiring and minting functionalities and close your account on November 30, 2023. This action is consistent with Circle's specific terms found within our applicable legal agreement."

Circle also clarified in the supposed email that the notification only applies to individual accounts and does not affect business or institutional accounts.

The email read, "This notice and account closure applies only to an individual's (consumer) Circle Account and does not apply to business (institutional) Circle Accounts."

A Circle spokesperson commented on the email circulating online, saying, "Circle is phasing out support for legacy consumer accounts and has notified individual consumers of this decision." They also added, "Account closures do not apply to business or institutional Circle Mint accounts."

With this latest development, retail users can access USDC through crypto exchanges, brokerages and digital wallet services.

In February 2022, the USDC issuer launched the Circle Mint Program, which, according to the company's vice president of product, Rachel Mayer, was developed to transform accounts into the "go-to destination for payments and treasury activity."

USDC is the second-largest stablecoin in the market, with a supply of $25 billion. However, its market capitalization has shrunk since the program's launch last year, with approximately $53 billion USDC in circulation, down from an all-time high market cap of $56 billion in June 2022.

As of 9:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday, USDC was trading at $0.9999, with a 24-hour trading volume down by 5.84% at $3,361,807,058. This represents a meager 0.02% decline in the last 24 hours and a 0.20% gain over the past seven days.

According to data from CoinMarketCap, USDC's total circulating supply stands at 24,721,627,389 USDC, with its value up by 0.67% at a $24,725,599,744 market cap.