USDC news

Aptos has activated Circle's Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol V2, upgrading its USDC infrastructure to enable near-instant settlement in seconds instead of minutes. The integration, live since August 26, connects Aptos to about nine other blockchains, including Ethereum and Solana, via over 90 transfer routes, using a burn-and-mint mechanism to issue native USDC directly. The new version introduces 'programmable hooks,' allowing developers to automate actions like lending deposits or treasury routing immediately upon a transfer's arrival, eliminating the need for manual second transactions. This follows Aptos's transition from the bridged lzUSDC to native USDC in January 2025, with CCTP V2 becoming the standard protocol version by November 2025. No significant market reaction accompanied the upgrade.

Chelsea Football Club has named Circle Internet Group as its principal and official front-of-shirt partner for the 2026/27 season, placing USDC branding on the men's, women's, and academy kits. The deal, announced without a specific payment product, aims to expose the stablecoin to a global football audience, with USDC appearing on shirts from August 30 when Chelsea plays Brighton. Notably, the agreement does not include USDC payments for tickets or merchandise. Circle's disclosure explicitly states USDC is not issued under UK law and that the sponsorship is not an inducement to trade cryptoassets, separating marketing from any financial service offer. Chelsea had been without a main shirt sponsor for an extended period.

Circle Internet Group, issuer of the USDC stablecoin, has become Chelsea Football Club's principal front-of-shirt sponsor starting with the 2026/27 Premier League season. The one-year agreement, with an option to extend, will feature both Circle and USDC logos on jerseys for the men's, women's, and academy teams, debuting on August 30, 2026. This marks the first USDC-branded sponsorship on a Premier League shirt. The deal highlights Circle's regulated, publicly listed status, distinguishing it from earlier crypto sponsorships like FTX's failed arena deal.

Circle has signed a principal partnership with Chelsea Football Club, becoming its Official Front of Shirt Partner from the 2026/27 season. The USDC branding will appear on the men's, women's, and academy shirts, debuting in the Premier League during Chelsea's first home match against Brighton. The deal continues Chelsea's ties with crypto firms, following its previous partnership with BingX. Circle's CEO Jeremy Allaire framed the deal as a way to introduce USDC to a global sports audience. The sponsorship follows Circle's 2026 expansion of USDC through banks and payment firms, including renewing its Coinbase agreement, securing a New York trust charter, and testing payments in Japan with JCB. Chelsea President Jason Gannon highlighted the club's focus on digital innovation. The partnership gives Circle exposure across multiple Chelsea teams and marks a move into consumer-facing branding after focusing on financial institutions.

Circle Internet, issuer of the USDC stablecoin, has become the main shirt sponsor of Premier League club Chelsea FC, marking the first time a crypto financial services firm's branding will appear as a principal shirt sponsor in the league. Financial terms were not disclosed, though reports had suggested Chelsea sought around 65 million pounds ($88.3 million) annually for the front-of-shirt slot, vacant for three years. Chelsea will debut the USDC-branded kit in its first home game on Sunday against Brighton. The UK's Financial Conduct Authority had previously warned clubs about partnerships with unauthorized crypto firms, but Circle is authorized via an e-money license.

Circle has agreed a multi-year principal partnership with Premier League club Chelsea, becoming its official front-of-shirt sponsor. The deal will feature Circle and USDC branding on men's, women's, and academy shirts starting with the 2026/27 season. Financial terms were not disclosed. The announcement comes as stablecoin adoption grows, with USDC supply at $73.9 billion. Circle stated the partnership reflects stablecoins' move toward mainstream adoption, while Chelsea said it positions the club at the forefront of football's digital evolution. The deal marks a rebound in crypto sports sponsorships following a post-2022 downturn. It also comes after the UK's Financial Conduct Authority warned clubs about partnerships with unauthorized crypto firms; Circle holds a UK electronic money issuer license. Chelsea's first game with the branding is scheduled for Sunday at Stamford Bridge.

Circle is deprecating CCTP V1, giving developers 95 days to migrate before legacy cross-chain USDC transfer contracts are paused on Dec. 1. Burn limits will start decreasing on Oct. 31, with capacity progressively reduced through November. Funds and pending redemptions remain accessible during the phase-out, and Circle will retain minting capacity to complete outstanding attestations. The migration requires significant code changes, as CCTP V2 uses new contract addresses, interfaces, and APIs. Integrators must update to V2 versions of TokenMessenger, MessageTransmitter, and TokenMinter, and adopt new depositForBurn parameters and attestation calls. Aptos, Noble, and Sui remain V1-only chains, while Circle has not disclosed which production integrations still rely on the old contracts.

A wallet linked to Singapore-based crypto firm Matrixport deposited $10 million in USDC and opened a $17.44 million long position on Ethereum at 20x leverage on Hyperliquid, according to on-chain analytics platform Hypurrscan. The trade follows a documented pattern of large, leveraged ETH longs by Matrixport-linked addresses, ranging from 30,000 to 120,000 ETH at 15-20x leverage. Similar recent activity included a new wallet depositing $5 million USDC to open a $36.5 million long on 500 BTC. Some of these positions have generated profits exceeding $59 million. Matrixport, founded by Jihan Wu and licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, manages over $10 billion in assets, and the recurring trades suggest an ongoing strategy that could impact market liquidity and funding rates.

Circle minted $5 billion in USDC in the week ending August 26, its largest weekly issuance since early 2026, lifting the stablecoin's market cap to about $73.88 billion, a 2.67% weekly rise. The figure reflects gross issuance, with redemptions reducing the net supply increase. Total stablecoin market cap grew to $303.72 billion, while USDC's adjusted on-chain transaction count jumped 31.5% week-over-week. Much of the minting occurred on Solana, including a single $250 million transaction on August 20 and $1 billion issued within 24 hours five days later. The surge coincided with Circle being selected as technical provider for Hyperliquid's $5 billion USDC reserve. Analysts emphasize that the net minting-redemption gap and transaction velocity, rather than gross issuance, better signal institutional demand for dollar liquidity.

UAE digital bank Zand is adding support for Circle's USDC to its stablecoin infrastructure, enabling eligible businesses to use both the Zand Dirham stablecoin and USDC for payments, settlement, treasury operations, and cross-border transactions. The bank, backed by investors including Franklin Templeton, said the integration aims to create a seamless channel for moving value between UAE-based and global digital financial ecosystems. Zand describes its Dirham-backed stablecoin as the UAE's first fully regulated multi-chain token, and the move supports the country's Digital Economy Strategy to double the digital economy's contribution to non-oil GDP by 2032.