Overview
- Standard Chartered announced on Thursday that it has activated institutional USDC minting and redemption through its Dubai International Financial Centre platform in partnership with Circle.
- Eligible institutional clients can convert dollars to USDC and redeem USDC back to dollars using Standard Chartered’s onboarding and service process without opening direct accounts with Circle.
- The service bundles the bank’s fiat banking, custody, and public blockchain connectivity so clients can move onchain funds while keeping a single regulated banking relationship.
- Standard Chartered already serves as a reserve bank for USDC cash holdings and its affiliated Zodia Markets recorded about $4 billion in net USDC minting volume in 2024, and the bank is the first G-SIB to offer this integrated channel.
- The offering is live in DIFC with planned expansion to other jurisdictions that will depend on local regulatory approvals, and it may speed institutional use of stablecoins for settlement, treasury and liquidity management in the region.