(Circle officially obtains a banking license, the first stablecoin bank in human history is born!)
This is a historic moment.
Circle transitions from a tech company to U.S. financial infrastructure!
The security of holding USDC is equivalent to holding U.S. dollars
Institutions, pensions, and interbank all equate USDC to U.S. dollars
This is the first stablecoin bank in human history.
Below is a brief explanation to help everyone understand:
1. What is OCC?
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, U.S. Currency Supervisory Office.
It is one of the 'top regulatory officers' in the U.S. banking industry. It is specifically responsible for supervising all 'national banks' and federal savings associations. Giants like JPMorgan, Citibank, and Bank of America are under its jurisdiction.
The OCC issues bank licenses, sets rules, and regularly inspects banks. Obtaining the OCC license means that CIRCLE has officially entered the ranks of the U.S. federal banking system from a 'fintech internet company', standing on equal footing with all major Wall Street banks.
2. Direct impact on CIRCLE
In the past: Dollar reserves had to be kept in other banks, and if that bank collapsed or was at risk, like Silicon Valley Bank SVB back in the day, the reserves of USDC would be frozen or even lost, leading to a possible decoupling of USDC.
Now: Circle itself is a bank, capable of holding USDC reserves, managing U.S. Treasury bonds and cash securely, and its future is directly connected to the system without a third party.
The 'U.S. content' and security of USDC have reached the theoretical maximum!
3. Impact on USDC
In the past: USDC was just a compliant stablecoin issued by a tech company called Circle; essentially still a 'private currency'.
Now: After becoming a national trust bank regulated by the OCC, USDC has become a digital dollar operating under the federal regulatory framework.
Further widened the gap between USDC and USDT; USDT is an offshore, unregulated 'shadow dollar'; while USDC is a 'legitimate digital dollar' regulated at the highest level by the U.S. federal government.
4. Things that will happen
In the past: Pension funds, insurance funds, and large asset management wanted to use stablecoins, but were restricted by compliance requirements and could not hand over money to an ordinary 'tech company'.
Now: Can legitimately cooperate with Circle, using USDC for settlement, clearing, or as collateral. This is exponentially beneficial for the market value growth of USDC.
5. CIRCLE up, Tether down
The previously highly authoritative S&P 500 rating rated USDT at the lowest risk level, while USDC was rated just below U.S. Treasury bonds, which is a signal—if reassessed today, USDC should be upgraded by one level.
Compliance means cleanup! After the target market for USDC expanded from the 'crypto world' to 'global financial settlement', any compliant USDT holders will be replaced by USDC. This has already been happening recently based on the changes in market shares, which can be continuously observed through CMC.
After the stablecoin bill passes next year, there is over a 90% chance that USDT will be kicked out of the compliant industry according to the bill's requirements, including a decline in USDT on COINBASE.
Now Tether is also promoting its compliant stablecoin set up in the U.S., but time is no longer on its side.#银行 
