In a recent announcement on its website, Circle, a stablecoin issuer, has stated that it will no longer support consumer Circle Mint accounts. The company states, “Consumer-only Circle Mint accounts will no longer be supported and will be closed. No further action is required from the account holders in this matter.”
Closure of Consumer Accounts
With this decision, customers who have been minting Circle stablecoins such as USDC and EURC will need to find alternative platforms. However, individuals will still be able to purchase USDC through brokerages, crypto exchanges, and digital asset wallet services.
“Circle is phasing out support for legacy consumer accounts and has notified individual consumers of this decision,” says a Circle spokesperson. “Account closures do not apply to business or institutional Circle Mint accounts.”
Circle even sent an email to consumer accounts with zero balances to inform them about the discontinuation of support. Screenshots of the email were shared on the social media platform X by user @Evan_ss6. The email mentioned that wiring and minting functionalities will be discontinued and that the user’s account will be closed by November 30th.
Tether’s Advantage
Circle’s biggest rival, Tether, still supports individual consumer accounts, but with a minimum limit of $100,000. Tether, currently the largest stablecoin issuer in the market, has a total supply of around $84 billion for its USDT token. On the other hand, Circle is the second-largest issuer with a total supply of approximately $27 billion for USDC.
Circle has faced several challenges in the past year, resulting in a decrease in market share and customers. One of the main reasons for this was the collapse of FTX and the Silicon Valley Bank failure, as Circle had $3.3 billion of assets backing USDC deposited at SVB. When the bank failed, Circle’s funds were frozen by federal regulators, leading to investor panic and a shift of funds from USDC to Tether’s USDT.
Another setback for Circle came in August when PayPal announced the launch of its own USD-backed stablecoin called PayPal USD (PYUSD), making them the first major U.S. financial company to do so.
Circle’s New Partnership
Last week, Circle revealed a new partnership that will offer a loyalty points to stablecoin conversion service in Taiwan. Working with crypto exchange BitoGroup and convenience store chain Taiwan FamilyMart, Circle aims to launch its ‘Points-to-Crypto’ service. This collaboration will enable users to convert their FamilyMart loyalty points into cryptocurrencies like Circle’s USDC. Notably, the service will be free of transaction fees and will ensure that loyalty points do not lose their value over time.
