ByCoinGape
Circle’s USDC is well on its way to a massive growth in institutional usage following the launch of a new offering by Standard Chartered.
In a major partnership update, the bank revealed that it will now allow eligible institutional clients to directly mint and redeem the USDC stablecoin.
It marks the first time that a Global Systemically Important Bank (G-SIB) is offering the institutional minting and redemption of USDC under a single onboarding process. Under the Circle-Standard Chartered partnership, clients aren’t required to hold direct accounts with Circle for USDC minting and redemption.
Standard Chartered will initially roll out the USDC offering in its Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). Interestingly, this move aims to integrate traditional banking, digital asset infrastructure, and blockchain connectivity on a single platform.
Moreover, Standard Chartered also plans to expand the product into other markets as it gets regulatory approvals.
Circle 🤝 Standard Chartered@StanChart has launched institutional USDC minting and redemption through DIFC, becoming the first G-SIB to offer institutional access to USDC through a regulated banking channel.
A major milestone for institutional stablecoin adoption.… pic.twitter.com/SufjFOqjyk
— Circle (@circle) July 2, 2026
The infrastructure is intended for institutional applications such as on-chain settlement, treasury management and liquidity operations. Further, in later stages, it eyes adding payment applications for Circle’s USDC. After this announcement, the CRCL stock price gained 4.25% to $64.58 in pre-market trading on Thursday.
Institutional investors are seeking trusted digital asset infrastructure, said Roberto Hoornweg, the Chief Executive Officer of Corporate and Investment Banking at Standard Chartered. In the official release, he said, “Digital assets are becoming an increasingly important component of global financial infrastructure, and institutional clients are seeking the same levels of trust and governance that underpin traditional markets.”
The collaboration follows Standard Chartered bagging its MiCA license via its Luxembourg branch just days before the EU transition deadline in July.
Meanwhile, as Standard Chartered continues to roll out access to the USDC, Circle is also making moves to counter competition from Open USD (OUSD). For context, the rival stablecoin OUSD was introduced by the Open Standard consortium on June 30.
OUSD’s consortium consists of over 140 companies. These include Visa, Mastercard, BlackRock, BNY, Standard Chartered, Google, Shopify, Coinbase, Ripple, and Solana.
However, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire dismissed concerns related to OUSD. On Wednesday, July 1, he stated that the market share of USDC is based on years of ecosystem building. On X, he wrote, “Stablecoin networks are platform and network effect businesses that are established over a long period of time.”
USDC’s developer ecosystem, its liquidity and regulatory quality in the European Union and Japan were among its competitive advantages, he added.
Meanwhile, the Standard Chartered partnership can boost in the Dubai region. The launch is expected to strengthen USDC’s institutional presence in Dubai. It eyes giving eligible clients in the DIFC direct access to minting and redemption through a global bank.
It also reinforces Dubai’s position as a leading hub for regulated digital asset activity. Recently, VARA made a milestone by issuing 50th license, hence, continuing to seal Dubai’s status as a global crypto hub.
Kritika Mehta
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