Circle, the US fintech firm combining with Concord Acquisition Corp with a view to going public, is taking steps to become a federally chartered national commercial bank.
The move means Circle, which provides internet-native, digital currency-powered, transaction and treasury services, would come under the supervision and risk management requirements of several US currency regulators.
Making the announcement in a blog post, Jeremy Allaire, Circle’s co-founder and chief executive officer, says: “We believe that full-reserve banking, built on digital currency technology, can lead to not just a radically more efficient, but also a safer, more resilient financial system.”
The announcement comes as USDC, the digital currency that Circle operates, reached more than $27.5 billion in circulation. The fintech, working in partnership with Coinbase and through the Centre Consortium, designed USDC to conform with stringent US money transmission supervisory and regulatory standards.
By becoming a federally chartered national commercial bank, Circle aims to continue and build on the “long-standing commitment to trust, transparency and accountability in the dollar-denominated reserves backing USDC”.
