USDC

Circle creates a USDC when one of its direct customers, such as an exchange or a bank, pays it a dollar, and destroys one when it pays a dollar back. Circle says that service isn’t open to individuals or small businesses: they buy and sell USDC on exchanges and in apps, at the market’s price. In late October 2026, Circle counted 71 billion USDC in circulation, issued on 38 blockchains.

Most of the reserves sit in the Circle Reserve Fund, which holds short-dated US Treasuries and overnight loans backed by them, and the rest in cash; Circle publishes the holdings every week. USDC pays nothing: Circle’s terms say it “does not itself generate any interest or return” for its holders. It isn’t a bank deposit either: a US law passed in 2025 says payment stablecoins aren’t guaranteed by the government or covered by deposit insurance. And Circle can block an address, after which the USDC in it can’t move.

Each blockchain has its own USDC contract, and a transfer stays on one network. Tokens labelled USDC.e, made by third parties, are bridged tokens, not Circle’s.

The dollar holds for as long as people trust Circle to pay it. In March 2023, Circle disclosed that 3.3 billion dollars of USDC’s reserves, about 8%, were stuck at Silicon Valley Bank, which had just failed, and it stopped paying out for the weekend. USDC traded as low as 86 cents, according to the Federal Reserve, and recovered once Circle resumed payouts on Monday. That kind of slip is a depeg.

The guide on digital dollars covers its reserves, its freezes and what would happen if Circle failed, and the one on sending and receiving digital dollars covers the transfers.