USDC news

Sei has warned holders of USDC.n, the legacy version of USDC bridged from Noble, to exchange it for the native USDC before the network’s March SIP‑3 upgrade. The upgrade will make Sei an EVM‑only chain and drop Cosmos‑native assets, which could render USDC.n inaccessible or lose value. Roughly $1.4 million remains in USDC.n on Sei, down from several million as users move to the native token. Sei recommends small swaps via DragonSwap or Symphony and larger conversions through Brr’s batch tool that moves assets from Noble to Polygon and back to Sei using Circle’s CCTP. Circle recently invested in Sei, making it the main deployment platform for USDC in the Cosmos ecosystem.

Coinbase will suspend peso-to-USDC conversions and bank transfers in Argentina from Jan 31, giving users a 30-day window to withdraw funds. The change blocks Argentinians from buying USDC amid triple-digit inflation. The move is not a permanent exit but a pause to reassess strategy. It deprives a market where stablecoins make up to 80% of crypto traffic, dominated by Tether, hampering Argentina's digital-finance push. Crypto-to-crypto trading stays active, but the loss of fiat rails cuts Coinbase's core utility for daily savers, potentially relegating it to a niche venue.

USDC is increasingly used for routine payments and business transfers, not just trading. The surge in activity makes settlement cost a priority, as Ethereum congestion has pushed USDC transfer fees to several dollars, eroding the stablecoin’s cost advantage. Bybit has added USDC support on the XDC Network, will waive XDC withdrawal fees from Dec 1 2025 to Jan 1 2026, and launched a $200 000 USDC reward pool for new users. XDC’s low, predictable fees offer a more reliable route for frequent transfers. The move follows a trend of exchanges—BTSE, KuCoin, MEXC, Gate.io, Bitrue, Pionex—adding XDC support. XDC, designed for institutional payments, has seen USDC issuance exceed $200 million, making it a practical settlement layer as stablecoins gain regulatory focus under proposals like the GENIUS Act.

Intuit and Circle have signed a multi‑year partnership to embed Circle’s USDC stablecoin across Intuit’s suite of products, including TurboTax and QuickBooks. The arrangement aims to offer faster, lower‑cost payments and new experiences for tax refunds, leveraging programmable money on a stable‑coin platform. Details on which blockchain will host the USDC transactions remain undisclosed, with Intuit saying further information will be released in 2026. The partnership is positioned to broaden Intuit’s payment options and store‑of‑value capabilities, while shares of Intuit and Circle rose modestly following the announcement.

Intuit partners with Circle to embed USDC stablecoin across its platforms, enabling faster, lower‑cost payments for business transactions, tax refunds and marketing. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire says the deal extends USDC’s speed, power and efficiency for everyday financial activity, and the move follows the OCC’s conditional approval of Circle’s national trust bank charter amid broader stablecoin regulation, including the recently passed GENIUS Act.

Intuit has entered a multiyear agreement with Circle to embed the USDC stablecoin into its core products, TurboTax and QuickBooks, enabling faster, cheaper payments for tax refunds, business payouts, and other services. The deal gives Intuit access to Circle’s stablecoin infrastructure for back‑end payment flows. The partnership follows a broader industry shift toward stablecoins as an alternative to ACH and wire transfers, buoyed by U.S. regulatory clarity after the GENIUS Act. While the rollout timeline and user‑facing details remain unclear, the move positions Intuit among fintech firms integrating digital dollar‑backed currencies.

Visa is launching USDC settlement in the United States, allowing issuer and acquirer partners to settle obligations to the network using Circle’s dollar‑pegged stablecoin. The move marks the U.S. phase of a pilot that has reached a $3.5 billion annualized run rate, offering near‑instant, seven‑day settlement and predictable liquidity while keeping the consumer card experience unchanged. Initial participants include Cross River Bank and Lead Bank, settling on the Solana blockchain. Visa plans to extend access to more U.S. partners through 2026, supports Circle’s Arc blockchain as a lead design partner, and will operate a validator node once the chain launches. Since 2021, Visa has expanded its stablecoin settlement program across multiple blockchains.

Coinbase announced on Thursday it will stop paying USDC rewards to non‑paying customers starting Dec. 15, making the 4% reward exclusive to Coinbase One subscribers. The One tier costs $4.99/month and bundles no trading fees with the high‑yield reward, which the exchange says offers 10× the average U.S. savings rate. Coinbase’s USDC program has historically paid variable rates, up to 4.1% in July, but will now be limited to paid members. Coinbase reported $9 billion in USDC holdings in Q3, a 90% rise from the previous year, largely driven by the rewards program. Stablecoin revenue also grew $107.1 million in the quarter.

Circle has teamed with Aleo to roll out USDCx, a privacy‑focused stablecoin on Aleo’s testnet, later to launch on the mainnet. Built on Circle’s new xReserve platform, USDCx lets users keep sensitive transaction data private while meeting regulatory requirements. The launch follows a similar rollout on Canton and aims to support use cases such as payroll, remittances and national‑security payments. Aleo, which uses zero‑knowledge proofs, raised $28 million in 2021, and the partnership underscores growing demand for confidential stablecoin infrastructure.

Circle is testing USDCx, a privacy-preserving wrapped version of its USDC stablecoin, on the Aleo layer-1 network that uses zkSNARKs. The token offers bank-level privacy with a configurable compliance record, allowing corporate use cases while maintaining on-chain visibility. USDCx is piloted on an Aleo testnet, fully backed by traditional USDC held in Circle’s xReserve and built with trust-minimized cross-chain infrastructure. It is not private by default when bridged to other chains, and Aleo will add an FAQ soon.