Circle has officially obtained a banking license under the OCC (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency).
This means one thing:
Stablecoins have truly entered the U.S. federal banking system for the first time.
Circle is no longer just a "tech company issuing USDC,"
but has directly become a participant in the federally regulated financial infrastructure.
⸻
1️⃣ What is the OCC?
The OCC (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency)
is one of the highest-level regulatory agencies in the U.S. banking system.
National banks like JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, and Bank of America
operate under the regulatory framework of the OCC.
Obtaining banking qualifications within the OCC system
means Circle has officially entered the "regular army of Wall Street."
⸻
2️⃣ Direct changes for Circle
Previously:
The U.S. dollar reserves of USDC needed to be held in third-party banks.
Once a bank encountered problems (such as the SVB incident),
USDC could face risks of freezing or decoupling.
Now:
Circle itself has banking-level custody capabilities,
can directly hold cash and U.S. Treasuries,
and the fate of USDC no longer relies on third parties.
This is a structural upgrade in the safety of USDC.
⸻
3️⃣ Significance for USDC
USDC is no longer just a "compliant stablecoin,"
but operates as a digital dollar within the federal regulatory framework.
The differences with USDT have been thoroughly highlighted:
• USDT: offshore, shadow dollars, outside regulation
• USDC: federally regulated, directly adoptable by institutions
This is a difference in level, not just a marketing distinction.
⸻
4️⃣ What will happen next?
Many things were not previously done because they could not be done:
• Pensions
• Insurance funds
• Interbank settlements
• Large asset management margins
Now, they can compliantly use USDC.
This is not a "good news for the crypto circle,"
but a passport for USDC to enter the global financial settlement layer.
⸻
5️⃣ Compliance means clearing the field
In the past, S&P's risk stratification of stablecoins
showed that USDC was clearly superior to USDT.
And with the implementation of the "Stablecoin Act":
• USDC will be systematically included
• USDT will likely be excluded from the compliance system
This is not an emotional judgment, but a result determined by the regulatory path.
The competition among stablecoins has shifted from a market dispute to an institutional dispute. $BTC
