USDC news

The European Banking Authority has classified Circle's USDC as a "significant" e-money token under the EU's Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation, the first such designation among 45 tokens notified in the bloc. Starting Nov. 12, the EBA will directly supervise USDC's funds, reserves, liquidity, and recovery plans, taking over these duties from France's ACPR, which will retain other oversight areas. The EBA also signed an MoU with New York's financial regulator to coordinate cross-border supervision. USDC, the second-largest stablecoin with a roughly $73 billion supply, has expanded commercially this year through partnerships with Binance and Chelsea FC.

Pendle's High Yield USDC vault on Morpho surpassed $15 million in deposits within a day of its October 14 launch, reaching approximately $15.76 million by October 15. The vault offers a net APY of 8.31% on USDC, derived from borrower interest and PENDLE token incentives, after a 10% performance fee. Co-curated with Wintermute's Armitage, the vault lends USDC against various Pendle Principal Token (PT) collateral, with nearly 99% of its total value locked in PT-reUSD. This new vault differentiates itself from Pendle's earlier USDC vault by allocating to higher-yield PT markets. The vault includes a 7-day timelock on certain changes, and about 94% of deposits are currently withdrawable.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has classified Circle's USDC as the first "significant" e-money token under the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), placing the dollar-pegged stablecoin under direct EBA supervision starting November 12, 2026. The designation, announced on October 14, divides oversight between the EBA and France's ACPR, with the EBA handling reserves, liquidity, own funds, and recovery plans, while ACPR retains governance and other responsibilities. The classification follows Circle's recent calls to revise MiCA's reserve asset rules, citing risks from mandatory bank deposits. Additionally, the EBA signed an information-sharing agreement with New York regulators to support cross-border stablecoin supervision.

Samsung Electronics announced on October 7, 2026 that its Wallet and Pay apps will support USDC transfers on the Solana blockchain for eligible US users. The rollout, scheduled for the last week of October, covers 82 million compatible Galaxy devices running Android 13 or later. Users can send USDC to external wallets and convert it to local currency for bank deposits in over 60 countries. Samsung will not charge a fee for transfers, but network and recipient-side fees may apply. The service is restricted to US residents aged 18 and older who pass identity verification and biometric authentication. Solana provides the blockchain infrastructure, Bastion offers the stablecoin framework, and Coinbase acts as sub-custodian. Sui is also listed as a supporting partner, but Solana is the chain used at launch. The announcement comes as Solana's stablecoin business expands, with supply growing nearly 20% year over year and transaction volume surpassing $5.25 trillion in 2026. Stablecoin supply hit a record $17.51 billion in September 2026. The integration is seen as a significant consumer win for Solana, leveraging Samsung's pre-installed software to simplify stablecoin adoption. Cross-border transfers are the primary use case, though US-only availability and eligibility criteria may limit reach.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has classified Circle's USDC stablecoin as a significant e-money token under the EU's Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) framework. This designation means USDC will be jointly supervised by the EBA and France's Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution. USDC is the second-largest stablecoin by market cap at $73 billion, behind Tether USDt's $184 billion. The classification comes as EU-based issuers push for regulated dollar stablecoins for cross-border payments. Industry executives note that European firms need dollar-pegged options, not just euro stablecoins. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank continues exploring a potential digital euro, first proposed in 2020, with possible issuance as early as 2029.

Circle's chief commercial officer, Kash Razzaghi, argued on the NYSE/ICE House Podcast that AI agents are becoming a new class of customer, preferring USDC due to programmability, low costs, and 24/7 availability. Circle reported 165 million transactions from about 80,000 agents as of mid-October 2026, with USDC representing 99-99.8% of transaction value on the x402 payments protocol. The figures trace back to Circle's Agent Stack, launched in May 2026, which includes Agent Wallets, an Agent Marketplace, the Circle CLI, and nanopayments. These tools enable programmatic transactions across chains, with near-zero-cost settlement allowing payments as small as $0.000001. Circle aims to position USDC as the default settlement asset for the emerging 'agentic economy,' though transaction counts and economic value differ significantly given the micro-scale of payments.

Institutional demand for borrowing against Bitcoin has driven utilization in Morpho's main cirBTC/USDC market to 97.4%, with $190 million of the $195 million in supplied USDC now borrowed, up from 8.1% at launch on Sept. 21. Smaller markets on Circle's Arc Layer-1 are near full capacity as well. Circle's cirBTC, backed 1:1 by Bitcoin, is used by institutional clients to borrow USDC via Morpho, with Circle serving as custodian and Chainlink verifying reserves. Borrowing rates remain modest at around 2.89% APY. The rapid rise in utilization highlights a supply-demand imbalance, leaving about $5 million in headroom, which could strain the system if liquidations and withdrawals occur simultaneously given the 86% liquidation threshold.

USDC recorded $81.2 billion in decentralized exchange (DEX) trading volume over the 30 days ending around October 12, 2026, accounting for roughly half of all stablecoin DEX activity, which totaled $161.4 billion across 35 venues. Uniswap's v3 and v4 handled $26.4 billion of that volume, capturing 47.2% of total stablecoin DEX trading. Notably, USDC's 30-day volume exceeded its circulating supply of about $74.6 billion as of late September 2026. The activity is largely driven by DEX liquidity provision, with about 69% of USDC's on-chain activity linked to it. However, some volume may be inflated by flash loans. USDC also generated $40.2 billion in weekend DEX volume during Q3 2026. Uniswap's v4, with lower fees and better routing, remains a key venue for stablecoin pairs.

Peach, an on-chain aggregator and launchpad, has added native USDC bridging for the Arc blockchain directly within its platform. Announced on October 8, 2026, the feature allows users to move USDC from external chains like Ethereum into the Arc ecosystem without leaving Peach's interface. This integration is powered by Circle's Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol, ensuring users receive canonical, issuer-backed USDC rather than a wrapped version. On Arc, USDC serves as the gas token, so bridged funds can be used immediately for both trading and transaction fees, eliminating the need to acquire a separate token. Peach has been operational on Arc since its mainnet launch on September 16, 2026, and this update further integrates Circle's infrastructure into the ecosystem. Early community feedback has been positive, though no detailed market impact has been reported.

Circle's USDC stablecoin saw $40.2 billion in weekend trading on decentralized exchanges during Q3, according to data shared on X. This activity occurred while traditional bank transfers were paused, with weekend stablecoin transfers reaching up to $38 billion in a single day, a pace comparable to Visa's typical daily volume. Total DEX trading volume across chains reached approximately $721.7 billion in Q3 2026, with stablecoins accounting for a significant portion. Roughly 69% of USDC's on-chain activity was tied to DEX liquidity provision, while 23% came from flashloans on platforms like Base and Aerodrome. USDC's circulating supply stood at around $74.6 billion by the end of September 2026. The total stablecoin supply in Q3 was estimated between $304 billion and $311 billion, with USDT and USDC controlling about 85% of the market. Observers are watching whether USDC's weekend volume growth and turnover edge over USDT persist, and whether activity shifts away from flashloans toward longer-term liquidity.