Circle Financial News

Lawmakers in the US House of Representatives are again looking at regulations on stablecoins under new Republican leadership, but partisan differences and bickering between the two sides may delay the passing of any new law on the topic.

Circle, the US company behind the popular stablecoin USDC, is set to testify in a Congress hearing on Wednesday about stablecoin regulation in the US.

Circle has been subject to discussion in the crypto industry since the depegging of its stablecoin (USDC) due to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) on March 10. Now that the company cleared its backlogs and USDC regained its 1:1 peg with the United States dollar, it is looking towards the future of both the company and the industry. 

The ongoing crisis and uncertainty around the global banking system could push the cryptocurrency market into a more gray area in terms of regulation, Circle chief executive believes.

At the Paris Blockchain Week 2023, Tether’s chief technology officer Paolo Ardoino spoke with Cointelegraph reporter Joseph Hall to discuss topics like the USD Coin (USDC) breaking its dollar peg and how it highlights the importance of Bitcoin (BTC) and decentralization. 

Recent turmoil in the traditional banking sector, culminating in USD Coin (USDC) losing its peg, could negatively affect stablecoin adoption and potentially increase calls for regulation, argued credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service. 

Welcome to Finance Redefined, your weekly dose of essential decentralized finance (DeFi) insights — a newsletter crafted to bring you significant developments over the last week.

Crypto investors should know by now that it doesn’t take much to topple a distressed multi-billion-dollar firm. On March 10, California regulators officially shut down Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) 48 hours after the company disclosed it was in financial distress. As Cointelegraph reported at the time, SVB is the first Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)-insured bank to fail in 2023. That crucial detail prompted federal regulators in the United States to step up and backstop SVB depositors before a bank run could ensue. Although government protections weren’t enough to stem a massive drop in bank stocks once markets reopened on Monday, Bitcoin (BTC) and the broader crypto market soared. Did FDIC bail out Bitcoin? Only time will tell.

The popular stablecoin USD Coin (USDC) has seen outflows of around $3 billion over three days this week, issuer Circle said in a blog post on Thursday.

Stablecoin issuer Circle has announced it has cleared "substantially all" of the backlog of redemption requests for its stablecoin USD Coin (USDC).

Circle CEO and co-founder, Jeremy Allaire, confirmed that, as of March 13, the stablecoin issuer has been “able to access” its $3.3 billion of funds held with the collapsed bank, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB).

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has signaled receptiveness to the crypto and blockchain sector after including several executives from the space as part of its new Technology Advisory Committee (TAC).

Caroline Hill, the director of global policy and regulatory strategy for stablecoin issuer Circle, has placed some of the blame from the recent collapse of banks tied to crypto on traditional financial institutions rather than digital assets.

The popular stablecoin USDC has regained its $1 peg price after regulators in the US assured that depositors in Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) can access their money today.

Global banking giant HSBC Holdings is coming to rescue the United Kingdom-based branch of the collapsed Silicon Valley Bank with a new acquisition.

USDC issuer Circle has pledged to cover any shortfall in the stablecoin's reserves if it does not receive the entirety of the $3.3 billion held at now-collapsed Silicon Valley Bank.

Circle has $3.3 billion of its $40 billion of USD Coin reserves at the collapsed lender Silicon Valley Bank, the company said in a tweet on Friday. The stablecoin company's announcement comes after startup-focused SVB collapsed on Friday in the largest bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis, roiling global markets and stranding billions of dollars belonging to companies and investors. Traders have been on guard this week for signs of contagion in the financial sector and beyond from troubles for SVB and crypto-focused Silvergate, which this week disclosed plans to wind down operations and voluntarily liquidate. Boston-based Circle said last week it had moved a «small percentage» of USDC reserve deposits held at Silvergate to its other banking partners.

Several USD Coin (USDC) holders have fled to other stablecoins since March 10 amid fears surrounding its solvency following the disclosure that a small portion of USDC's collateral was held at Silicon Valley Bank.

USD Coin (USDC) issuer Circle plans to use "corporate resources" to cover the shortfall on its reserves following Silicon Valley Bank's shutdown, said the company in a statement on March 11. 

Lending protocol Aave has frozen stablecoins trading and set Loan-to-Value (LTV) ratio to zero in response to recent price volatility on stablecoins after the USD Coin depegged on March 11. 

Stablecoin swapping pool Curve Finance is experiencing the highest daily trading volume in its history, exceeding $7 billion in the past 24 hours after the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapse triggered a wave of uncertainty across markets and depegged the USD Coin (USDC) from the U.S. dollar.