Circle clears ‘substantially all’ minting and redemption backlog for USDC

The stablecoin issuer says that from March 13 and March 15, it redeemed $3.8 billion USDC and minted $0.8 billion USDC.

Stablecoin issuer Circle says it has cleared “substantially all” of the redemption and minting requests for its stablecoin, USD Coin (USDC).

In a March 15 operational update, Circle said between the morning of March 13 to the close of banking business in the United States on March 15, it had redeemed $3.8 billion USDC and minted $0.8 billion USDC.

Update: As of close of U.S. banking operations Wednesday, March 15, we have cleared substantially all of the backlog of minting and redemption requests for USDC. Get the details: https://t.co/5WEAgPps0E

— Circle (@circle) March 16, 2023

Last week, Circle was hit with a bank run after disclosing it had $3.3 billion worth of stablecoin reserves in the now-collapsed Silicon Valley Bank which resulted in USDC losing its dollar peg.

“The events of the past week have impacted the liquidity operations for USDC,” Circle wrote in its update. It added it worked to “re-initiate services with alternative banking partners, particularly payment and USDC redemption services.”

Circle said it went live with a new banking partner for U.S. wires on March 14 and used the same partner “for international wires to and from 19 countries” on March 15. It expects “to bring more capabilities” online by March 16.

Related: Recent contagion was ‘TradFi to crypto’ and not vice versa — Circle policy director

Cross River Bank, which also services Circle's peer firm Coinbase, was disclosed as the firm's new commercial banking partner for producing and redeeming USDC on March 13. Circle also expanded ties with its existing custodian, the Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon).

The announcement comes after a turbulent period for USDC that caused many to lose funds amid a flight to perceived safety from what was, at the time, a rapidly declining asset.

One unfortunate crypto user paid over $2 million to receive $0.05 of USDT in their apparent panic to cash out of the crash. An analysis revealed they possibly forgot to set slippage on their transaction, allowing a bot to net a significant profit.

Update (March 16, 3:30 AM UTC): This article has been updated to include further information on recent USDC-related events.