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Circle’s USDC has become the first stablecoin to receive the European Union’s “significant” e-money token classification under MiCA, bringing the dollar-backed cryptocurrency under direct European Banking Authority supervision beginning November 12, 2026.

Summary

Circle’s USDC became the first significant e-money token among 45 notified under European Union regulations. November 12 begins joint supervision by the European Banking Authority and France’s financial regulator, ACPR. The EBA will oversee reserve assets, liquidity, capital requirements, recovery procedures, and token redemption plans. France’s ACPR retains responsibility for governance, outsourcing, ownership assessments, management suitability, and potential conflicts of interest. The EBA signed an information sharing agreement with New York regulators covering cross border stablecoin supervision. The European Banking Authority (EBA) announced the decision on October 14 after assessing USDC against the criteria established by the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). Of the 45 e-money tokens currently notified under the framework, USDC is the first to receive the designation. The new classification will divide oversight between the EBA and France’s banking regulator, the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR).

Circle’s USDC becomes the first major token under MiCA oversight The EBA’s decision places USDC under the supervisory framework established for significant e-money tokens. MiCA uses the term to identify certain digital assets linked to a single official currency that meet regulatory criteria concerning their size, use and financial activity.

USDC is pegged to the U.S. dollar and ranks as the world’s second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization. Circle issues the token through separate companies in Europe and the United States.

Circle's USDC Becomes EU's First "Significant" E-Money Token Under MiCA

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has classified Circle's USDC as the EU's first "significant" e-money token (EMT) under MiCA, making it the first of 45 notified EMTs to receive the designation. USDC is… pic.twitter.com/BV3TLKyBiY

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) October 15, 2026 In the European Union, Circle Internet Financial Europe SAS serves as the issuer. Circle Internet Financial, LLC performs that role in the United States, according to the EBA’s announcement.

The designation follows an assessment carried out under Article 56 of MiCA. The regulation requires the EBA to classify an e-money token as significant when it meets at least three of the criteria established under Article 43.

The criteria cover measures including the number of holders, transaction activity, token value and other indicators of how extensively an asset is used. However, the October 14 announcement did not identify which individual criteria USDC satisfied.

The EBA’s decision does not introduce USDC to the European market for the first time. Circle has been issuing the stablecoin through its French entity under MiCA since 2024.

Previously, the company announced that it had obtained an electronic money institution license from the ACPR in July 2024. The authorization allowed Circle to issue USDC and its euro-backed stablecoin EURC in accordance with the European framework.

Circle’s earlier European stablecoin license under MiCA established France as the company’s regulatory base for EU issuance.

The latest classification concerns the additional supervisory requirements applicable to USDC as a significant token.

EBA takes responsibility for USDC reserves in November Beginning November 12, the EBA will take direct responsibility for supervising several financial safeguards associated with USDC.

The regulator will oversee Circle’s compliance with applicable own-funds requirements, reserve assets, liquidity rules, and recovery and redemption plans for the token.

Own funds refer to financial resources the issuer must maintain to meet applicable regulatory obligations. Reserve assets concern the assets held to support the stablecoin’s value and meet redemption requests.

Liquidity requirements address the availability of assets that can be used to meet financial obligations when required. Recovery plans establish procedures for responding to financial difficulties, while redemption plans address how tokenholders can recover their funds under the applicable rules.

France’s ACPR will continue supervising other parts of Circle’s European business.

Its remaining responsibilities include corporate governance, qualifying ownership interests, assessments of senior management, outsourcing arrangements and conflicts of interest.

The EBA explained that the two regulators would cooperate during the transfer of responsibilities to maintain continuity in supervision.

Article 117 of MiCA establishes this division for significant e-money tokens. The EBA handles specified financial safeguards, while national authorities retain responsibilities over other regulated activities.

The European Securities and Markets Authority’s official rulebook specifies the powers transferred to the EBA when an e-money token receives significant status.

The classification does not remove the ACPR from Circle’s supervision or transfer every regulatory responsibility to the European authority.

The EBA will work with the French regulator on the areas where their responsibilities intersect.

Circle has questioned parts of Europe’s stablecoin rules The classification follows recent requests from Circle for changes to parts of MiCA’s stablecoin requirements.

In early October, the company urged EU policymakers to reconsider rules governing the reserve assets that stablecoin issuers must hold.

Circle argued that mandatory commercial bank deposit requirements could expose issuers to financial risks arising from their banking partners.

Current MiCA requirements provide for a minimum share of reserve assets to be held as deposits with credit institutions. For certain significant issuers, the applicable proportion increases.

The company’s recent proposal to revise MiCA’s bank deposit rules called for replacing fixed deposit thresholds with requirements tied more closely to reserve liquidity.

Circle cited its experience during the 2023 collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, when approximately $3.3 billion of USDC reserves became temporarily inaccessible.

Its policy recommendations included changes to the treatment of cross-border stablecoin issuance and recognition of regulated issuers operating outside Europe.

Another report on Circle’s proposed MiCA changes detailed the company’s argument that only three of the world’s 30 largest stablecoins complied with the European framework at the beginning of October.

Circle identified USDC, EURC and USDG among the compliant tokens in that assessment.

The EBA’s October 14 classification does not announce changes to the existing MiCA requirements. It applies the current legal framework to USDC and establishes the supervisory arrangements scheduled to begin in November.

EU and U.S. regulators agree to cooperate on stablecoins Alongside the new classification, the EBA confirmed an agreement with the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS).

The two authorities signed a memorandum of understanding covering cooperation and information exchanges related to cross-border stablecoin activities.

According to the EBA, the arrangement will support its supervision of stablecoins issued through entities operating in different jurisdictions.

USDC is issued through Circle’s European subsidiary and its U.S. entity, placing the token within separate regulatory systems.

The EBA said the agreement would allow the European and New York authorities to exchange information as part of their supervisory cooperation.

The memorandum does not replace the respective legal responsibilities of either authority, and the October 14 announcement did not disclose further operational arrangements.

The cooperation agreement comes as international regulators continue examining the risks associated with global stablecoin operations.

On October 12, the Financial Stability Board published a report examining cross-border vulnerabilities and financial stability monitoring for global stablecoins.

The international body identified stablecoin arrangements as activities that can operate across national borders and financial sectors, creating supervisory challenges for regulators.

For significant tokens, MiCA requires the EBA to establish and chair supervisory colleges involving relevant financial authorities. Article 119 provides for these groups to exchange information and issue opinions on specified supervisory matters.

The European regulator is responsible for reviewing whether e-money tokens continue to satisfy the significance criteria. Article 56 establishes the classification process, while the EBA’s published supervisory framework provides for regular assessments.

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/1506 supplies indicators used in the significance assessment, alongside the criteria already established in MiCA.

Under the timetable announced on October 14, the EBA will assume its specified responsibilities for USDC’s reserves, liquidity, own funds, and recovery and redemption arrangements on November 12. The ACPR will retain supervision of Circle’s governance, ownership assessments, outsourcing and conflicts of interest.

Samsung is putting a stablecoin in the same app where people keep their boarding passes. On October 7, 2026, Samsung Electronics said its Wallet and Pay apps will support USDC transfers on the Solana blockchain for eligible US users.

The rollout is scheduled for the last week of October. It covers 82 million compatible Galaxy devices.

How the Samsung Wallet USDC feature works
USDC is a stablecoin, a digital token designed to track the US dollar one for one.

Inside Samsung Wallet, eligible users will be able to send USDC to external wallets that accept it. They can also convert it into local currency and deposit it into bank accounts in more than 60 countries.

Samsung says it will not charge a fee for sending USDC to external wallets. That is not the same as free, though. Network fees or fees on the recipient’s side may still apply.

Access comes with guardrails. The service is limited to US residents who are 18 or older. Users must pass identity verification and confirm transactions with biometric authentication.

The feature requires a compatible device running Android 13 or later.

The partners behind the curtain
Samsung is not building the plumbing alone. Solana provides the blockchain infrastructure that moves the tokens, while Bastion supplies a licensed stablecoin framework for the payment service.

Coinbase serves as sub-custodian of the USDC. A custodian is the party that actually holds the assets, so Coinbase handles safekeeping while Samsung owns the front end.

Sui is also listed as a supporting blockchain partner. Solana, however, is the chain named for the USDC transfers at launch.

Solana’s stablecoin numbers
The deal lands as Solana’s stablecoin business has been expanding. Stablecoin supply on the network grew by nearly 20% year over year.

Solana processed more than $5.25 trillion in stablecoin transaction volume in 2026. Its stablecoin supply also hit a record $17.51 billion in September 2026.

The announcement did not come out of nowhere. In July 2026, Samsung teased that stablecoin features were coming but did not reveal which blockchain or which issuer it would use.

That left about three months of speculation. The October reveal answered both questions: USDC as the stablecoin and Solana as the rails.

The news has also fed bullish commentary. A Motley Fool contributor pointed to the integration in a piece titled “Here’s Why I’m Buying Solana Right Now.”

What this means for Solana, USDC, and payments
The most important number here is 82 million. Crypto companies have spent years trying to coax consumers into downloading new apps and opening new accounts. Samsung is skipping that step by putting stablecoin transfers into software already installed on its phones.

Cross-border transfers look like the clearest use case. The ability to cash out into local bank accounts in more than 60 countries targets that pain point directly.

The service is US-only at launch, and expansion to other markets depends on local regulations.

The eligibility rules will also narrow the audience. Not all 82 million device owners will be adults who pass identity checks, run Android 13 or later, and actually want to send stablecoins.

Samsung waiving its own charge is helpful, but users may still see network or recipient-side costs.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Kaye Quema. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

The share-backed tokens would trade on HyperCore against USDC, with US persons excluded under EQX’s eligibility rules.

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Financial supervision shifts to the EBA on Nov. 12, while France’s ACPR keeps responsibility for governance and other corporate matters.

Financial supervision shifts to the EBA on Nov. 12, while France’s ACPR keeps responsibility for governance and other corporate matters.

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Standard Chartered Global Head of Digital Assets Research Geoffrey Kendrick said in a Wednesday report that he still forecasts the stablecoin market capitalization will hit $2 trillion, but the timeline for reaching that target has been pushed back from 2028 to 2030 due to stalled supply growth this year. Over the past 12 months, stablecoin supply has hovered roughly between $300 billion and $320 billion, and currently stands at around $309 billion. Kendrick attributes the slowdown to cyclical rather than structural factors, linked to the weak crypto market, noting that similar historical phases are typically followed by expansion as market conditions recover. The report also highlights that stablecoin usage continues to grow: this year’s average monthly on-chain transaction volume is nearly $10 trillion, up from $4 trillion in 2025, with a record of around $19 trillion logged in May alone. Average monthly turnover has risen from roughly 15 times in 2025 to around 30 times currently. USDT has an average monthly turnover of about 7 times, and is mostly used for U.S. dollar savings in emerging markets. USDC’s average monthly turnover has climbed from around 45 times to roughly 80 times, with the stablecoin increasingly utilized for payments, financial transactions, and payments between early-stage AI agents.

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The European Banking Authority (EBA) announced that it has classified USDC, issued by Circle Internet Financial Europe SAS, as an Important Electronic Money Token (EMT) under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation. To date, 45 EMTs in the EU have completed notification under MiCA, with USDC being the first to be designated as an Important EMT. Starting November 12, 2026, USDC will be subject to dual supervision for Important EMTs under MiCA: direct regulatory responsibilities for own funds, asset reserves, liquidity requirements, and recovery and redemption plans will be transferred from the French Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority (ACPR) to the EBA; ACPR will retain oversight of governance, qualifying holdings, suitability assessments, outsourcing, and conflicts of interest. USDC is issued by Circle Internet Financial Europe SAS in the EU and Circle Internet Financial, LLC in the U.S. The EBA has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the New York State Department of Financial Services to facilitate cooperation and information exchange on cross-border stablecoin activities.

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The European Banking Authority (EBA) announced that it has classified USDC, issued by Circle Internet Financial Europe SAS, as an Important Electronic Money Token (EMT) under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation. To date, 45 EMTs in the EU have completed notification under MiCA, with USDC being the first to be designated as an Important EMT. Starting November 12, 2026, USDC will be subject to dual supervision for Important EMTs under MiCA: direct regulatory responsibilities for own funds, asset reserves, liquidity requirements, and recovery and redemption plans will be transferred from the French Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority (ACPR) to the EBA; ACPR will retain oversight of governance, qualifying holdings, suitability assessments, outsourcing, and conflicts of interest. USDC is issued by Circle Internet Financial Europe SAS in the EU and Circle Internet Financial, LLC in the U.S. The EBA has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the New York State Department of Financial Services to facilitate cooperation and information exchange on cross-border stablecoin activities.

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Circle has a new customer segment in mind, and it does not have a pulse.

In an October 12, 2026 appearance on the NYSE/ICE House Podcast, Circle Chief Commercial Officer Kash Razzaghi described AI agents as a fresh category of buyer. He also argued that these agents gravitate toward USDC for a handful of practical reasons.

What Razzaghi laid out Razzaghi framed USDC’s appeal around three priorities that matter to machines more than to people: programmability, low transaction costs, and availability at any hour.

Circle’s own figures suggest the pitch is landing. As of mid-October 2026, the company reported 165 million transactions involving approximately 80,000 agents.

Circle also reported that USDC accounted for 99-99.8% of transaction value on the x402 protocol, a payments standard used for these agent-driven transactions.

Cost is a big part of the story. Circle says USDC enables near-zero-cost settlement, with transactions as small as $0.000001.

AI agents are becoming new customers that prefer USDC based on three key priorities.

That framing, shared alongside the interview, captures how Circle wants the market to see this shift. Agents are not just tools that move money on someone’s behalf. In Circle’s telling, they are customers in their own right.

The Agent Stack behind the numbers The figures Razzaghi cited trace back to a product launch earlier in the year. On May 11, 2026, Circle rolled out its Agent Stack, a suite of tools built specifically for autonomous AI agents.

The stack has four main pieces: Agent Wallets, an Agent Marketplace, the Circle CLI, and nanopayments.

The wallets give agents somewhere to hold funds, while the marketplace gives them somewhere to spend them. The CLI lets developers work with Circle’s tools directly from code rather than through a dashboard. Nanopayments handle the ultra-small transactions that make machine-to-machine commerce viable.

Together, the tools are meant to let agents transact programmatically across different chains and protocols. Traditional payment methods typically carry higher costs and onboarding hurdles, which Circle argues makes them a nonstarter for high-frequency machine-to-machine transactions.

What this means for Circle and the agentic economy Circle is trying to make USDC the default settlement asset for what it calls the agentic economy, and the early data gives it a credible claim to that position.

That said, the numbers deserve some context. Roughly 165 million transactions sounds enormous, but when individual payments can be as small as $0.000001, transaction count and economic value are very different measurements.

There is also the question of concentration. A market where one stablecoin captures 99-99.8% of transaction value on a key protocol means the agent economy’s payment layer leans heavily on a single issuer.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Kaye Quema. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

Related to this topicMarkets Intelligence Council

KuCoin's KCUSD offers up to 4% base APR and 6% promotional yield on stablecoin deposits.Users earn daily compounded rewards without fixed lockups, while eligible VIP traders can use KCUSD as collateral.- KCUSD offers passive income potential but carries exchange custody, redemption, and variable APR risks.KuCoin has launched KCUSD, a new yield-bearing USD asset that puts stablecoins to work. Users earn a standard APR of up to 4%, with a promotional APR of up to 6% available to eligible participants, while retaining access to their funds.

There is no fixed lockup period. Users can subscribe with USDT, USDC, or USDG and receive KCUSD at a 1:1 ratio. The balance then earns daily returns, with rewards automatically compounded.

So what exactly is KCUSD, and how good is it as a potential passive income asset? 

Note: KuCoin is offering promotional rates of up to 6% for eligible campaigns. That figure includes the base yield rather than adding another 6% on top.

KCUSD Is Simpler Than Its Name Suggests The first thing to understand is that KCUSD is an earn product.

Users deposit supported stablecoins and receive KCUSD as a certificate representing that position. KCUSD can be used within the KuCoin ecosystem.

The standard yield is currently up to 6% APR with promotional rates. There is no fixed term, and users can request redemption back into the stablecoin they originally deposited.

For someone already keeping USDT or USDC on KuCoin, the pitch is straightforward: instead of leaving that balance idle, KCUSD gives it a chance to generate passive income.

At a 6% rate, $10,000 would generate roughly $600 over a year before considering compounding.

Meet KCUSD: The Money Partner that Earns for you.

KCUSD is also now live in Unified Trading Account (UTA), compounding capital inside.

→ Subscribe 1:1 with USDT, USDC, or USDG (0 fee)
→ Accrue daily compounding yield starting T+1
→ Maintain liquid margin in UTA

Subscribe to… pic.twitter.com/juylLAC6zE

— KuCoin (@kucoincom) October 14, 2026 The More Interesting Feature is the Unified Trading Account A 4% return by itself is competitive.

The more interesting part is KuCoin’s integration of KCUSD with its Unified Trading Account.

Eligible VIP users can use KCUSD as trading collateral while the balance continues earning its base yield. That means the same capital can potentially perform two jobs at once.

This matters most for active traders. Someone who normally keeps a large stablecoin balance available as margin faces a trade-off. Moving that money into an Earn product generates yield, but it can make the capital less useful for trading.

KCUSD attempts to remove some of that friction. On top of that, its roughly 4% base rate places it toward the stronger end of flexible exchange-based yield products today.

KCUSD Review: Good for Passive Income? The biggest strength is simplicity.

There is no fixed lockup. The base return is relatively attractive. Rewards compound automatically. Users can enter through several major stablecoins and redeem back into the same asset.

For people who already keep money on KuCoin, that removes several extra steps.

The product becomes more compelling once yield and trading collateral work together. Large traders, market makers, and other users who maintain significant account balances could earn on capital that would otherwise sit unused.

There are, however, practical limits to consider.

KCUSD is designed for use within KuCoin at this moment, consistent with some other exchange-based yield products. 

Users who want to move their capital to a personal wallet, another exchange, or a DeFi application must first redeem their KCUSD into supported stablecoins, subject to the applicable redemption and withdrawal rules. 

This makes it better suited to funds users intend to keep on KuCoin than to capital they regularly move between platforms.

Access to its trading functionality also depends on account eligibility. KCUSD margin support in UTA is currently available to eligible users at VIP1 and above. 

KuCoin describes a phased rollout to eligible users; readers should assess the functionality available to their account today.

Who Actually Benefits Most? The obvious user is someone who already plans to keep stablecoins on KuCoin.

For that person, earning around 6% instead of leaving the balance untouched is relatively easy to understand.

The bigger opportunity could be for active traders once collateral support becomes more widely available. If capital can remain available for trading while continuing to generate yield, even a modest annual return becomes meaningful on large balances.

KCUSD is less compelling for people who prefer self-custody, frequently move money between platforms, or want access to onchain yield opportunities.

The Risks Users Should Understand This review is not financial advice. KCUSD is a custodial exchange product, and its risks are different from simply holding stablecoins in your own wallet.

The APR can change.  Redemption may be delayed or restricted under certain conditions.  KuCoin’s terms also disclose risks linked to third-party asset managers and say extreme circumstances could result in partial or total loss of subscribed assets. KCUSD also carries exchange counterparty risk because the product exists inside KuCoin. Users do not directly control the assets or investments generating the return.

For users comfortable with those trade-offs, KCUSD offers a competitive way to make idle stablecoins more productive. The 4% yield is attractive. 

Its longer-term test will be whether KuCoin can make that yield useful across trading without adding complexity or obscuring the risks behind it.

Disclaimer

BeInCrypto independently reports and controls this Feature. Quoted views belong to their speakers. This content is general and non-personalized; it does not consider your circumstances and is not investment research, financial, investment, legal or tax advice, or an offer, endorsement or recommendation to transact in any crypto-asset, product or service. Verify material information before acting. Crypto-assets are volatile and may result in total loss. BeInCrypto gives no warranty as to completeness, accuracy or timeliness, except where required by law.

The VolatilePair Hook adds temporary charges on trades reversing large price moves, aiming to retain more arbitrage value for liquidity providers.

The VolatilePair Hook adds temporary charges on trades reversing large price moves, aiming to retain more arbitrage value for liquidity providers.

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Payment firm Lydian has announced that its merchant checkout application Lydian Pay is now available on Apple App Store and Google Play. Merchants can download the free app on their existing smartphones or tablets, complete verification, and start accepting payments—no card readers, contracts, or additional hardware required. Customers pay via digital asset wallets, while merchants settle funds to their existing bank accounts in local fiat currency. Lydian does not hold custody of merchants’ funds, and payment records can be reconciled through the Lydian Merchant Portal. The app supports merchants to select their accepted wallets, assets, and networks; it currently covers assets including USDT, USDC, BTC, ETH, TRX, and networks such as Ethereum, Tron, Polygon, Solana, Arbitrum, Base, and Bitcoin.

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Ledger: German retail and distribution inventory devices show no signs of tampering, and no financial loss reports have been received across Europe.

Hardware wallet provider Ledger’s security team Donjon has updated on a German-related report, stating that after receiving a report from a German user, it inspected inventory devices at retail outlets and distributors in the country, including products at the named stores, and found no signs of tampering. Ledger also noted that there have been no reports of financial losses linked to hardware implants across Europe. Separately, regarding the suspected abnormal devices circulating online, the security team has not obtained physical units for testing. It has now invited holders of such devices to send them to Ledger’s security team for further analysis, with investigation results to be made public.

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US stocks slump, with the optical communication sector leading the decline; semiconductor, storage, and crypto-related stocks all fall across the board, and Strategy drops 5.8%.

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APR rewards are distributed from Binance’s own funds, and are determined based on the assessment and evaluation of prevailing market conditions. This Promotion is not associated with the issuer of USDT/USDC in any manner.USDC is an e-money token issued by Circle Internet Financial Europe SAS (https://www.circle.com/). USDC’s whitepaper is available here. You may contact Circle using the following contact information: +33(1)59000130 and [email protected]. Holders of USDC have a legal claim against Circle SAS as the EU issuer of USDC. These holders are entitled to request redemption of their USDC from Circle SAS. Such redemption will be made at any time and at par value.For clarity, references to “U” , “ USD1” in the content above are not direct acronyms of the “United States Dollar” fiat currency unless otherwise specified.

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Institutions apparently wanted to borrow against their Bitcoin without selling it. They wanted it badly enough to drain nearly every spare dollar from the pool built for the job.

About 97.4% of the USDC supplied to the main cirBTC/USDC market on Morpho is now borrowed. When Circle Mint opened access on Sept. 21, that figure was 8.1%. Three weeks later, the room is almost full.

From quiet launch to near capacity As of Oct. 13, 2026, the flagship cirBTC/USDC market on Circle’s Arc Layer-1 held $195 million in supplied USDC. Of that, $190 million had been borrowed.

Circle launched cirBTC on Sept. 21 as a token backed 1:1 by Bitcoin. It is built for a product Circle calls Digital Asset-Backed Borrowing, or DABB.

Eligible institutional Circle Mint customers can post cirBTC as collateral. They can then borrow USDC that lands directly in their Mint balances. The lending runs through Morpho markets on both Arc and Ethereum.

Collateral is not the constraint. More than $304 million in cirBTC currently backs these borrowing operations. The bottleneck is the dollars on the other side of the table.

The squeeze is not limited to the headline market either. Smaller individual cirBTC/USDC markets on Arc have also reported utilization close to 100%.

Who does what in this arrangement Circle has been careful to keep itself out of the lending business. It does not underwrite loans and does not lend in this structure.

Its role is custodial, handled through Circle National Trust. Proof of reserves is published onchain using Chainlink, so anyone can check that the Bitcoin behind cirBTC actually exists.

Morpho sets and manages the market parameters. That includes a liquidation loan-to-value ratio, or LLTV, of 86%.

Borrowing costs have stayed modest. Variable rates in the market sit at roughly 2.8% to 2.9% APY, with the current borrow rate near 2.89%.

Circle also widened the menu in early October. An integration with Aave gave institutional clients a second venue for borrowing against cirBTC.

Why the 8.1% to 97.4% jump matters Utilization measures how much of a lending pool is actually out the door. The move from 8.1% to 97.4% in about three weeks tells you demand ran far ahead of supply. Borrowers showed up faster than lenders did.

For borrowers, the product works, the rate is cheap, and the plumbing into Circle Mint seems to function as advertised. But with roughly $5 million of headroom in the main market, the next large borrower may find the cupboard nearly bare.

What this means for institutional Bitcoin and DeFi These are institutional Circle Mint clients, not anonymous wallets. They are tapping a DeFi protocol to do it.

Circle stays a custodian and stablecoin issuer. Morpho runs the risk engine. Chainlink verifies the reserves.

For Circle, the product gives Bitcoin holders a reason to bring assets into its ecosystem and creates fresh demand for USDC itself. Every dollar borrowed in these markets is a dollar of USDC in circulation.

It also gives Arc, Circle’s own Layer-1, a concrete use case early in its life. The main market and the smaller near-full markets are all on Arc.

The risks are the usual ones, magnified by concentration. An 86% LLTV leaves room, but a sharp Bitcoin drawdown could push some positions toward liquidation. In a market where almost all the cash is already lent out, liquidations and withdrawals arriving together would stress the system in ways a half-empty pool would not feel.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Estefano Gomez. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

Billionaire Paul says he will short U.S. stocks for the full year and holds long positions in oil.

Billionaire and legendary hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones told CNBC that 2027 could be a highly challenging year for U.S. stocks, with the market facing its most unfavorable capital flow environment since 2002. He noted that the corporate buyback and M&A trends that have supported U.S. equity gains in recent years may reverse, while AI giants’ IPOs and subsequent secondary offerings will further expand stock supply. Jones highlighted that potential listings of AI firms like OpenAI and Anthropic, plus financing needs for AI infrastructure development, could drive more corporate stock issuances. Comparing the current market to the eve of the dot-com bubble burst, he argued that a flurry of IPOs and stock lock-up expirations may exert sustained pressure on the market. Additionally, Jones warned that the U.S.’s widening fiscal deficit could eventually force the government to adjust fiscal policies amid market pressure; a $20–$25 oil price surge after the U.S. midterm elections would also likely hit stocks sharply. He said he holds long oil positions and bluntly stated: “I will be shorting the whole year.”

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Metric will launch a decentralized exchange (DEX) for tokenized real-world assets (RWA) on the Robinhood Chain.

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A low-cost HYPE whale has cumulatively sold off tokens worth $22.49 million at a high point, generating returns exceeding 2119%.

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U.S. overall inflation in September likely to see its largest increase in five months, putting October's interest rate hike expectations to the test.

Latest market projections show U.S. September headline CPI is expected to rise 0.6% month-over-month, up from August’s 0.4% and potentially marking its largest monthly gain in five months. The year-over-year CPI increase is forecast to climb from 3.4% to 3.6%. Driven by Middle East tensions and oil prices, rising energy costs are likely the main catalyst for accelerating inflation. For core CPI, markets expect a 0.2% month-over-month rise and 2.5% year-over-year gain, with the monthly pace slowing from the prior period. Goldman Sachs projects September energy prices to rise around 5% month-over-month, while housing inflation continues to cool. The divergence between headline and core inflation trends may complicate the Federal Reserve’s policy judgments. Fed officials remain divided on their next policy move. Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester believes inflationary pressures are spreading to more sectors and is open to a rate hike at the end of October; Governor Christopher Waller, however, has said there is no need for consecutive rate hikes at two back-to-back meetings. Markets will closely watch whether this data will shift expectations for the interest rate path in October and December. U.S. September CPI will be released at 20:30 tonight, September PPI will be released on Thursday, and Fed Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak on Friday. If CPI comes in higher than expected, it may reinforce expectations of further policy tightening; if core inflation slows, it may support the Fed pausing rate hikes.

7 minutes ago

Whale Rotates $89.5M from $BTC to $ETH Over 3 Days

This mysterious whale continues to rotate from $BTC into $ETH.
Over the past 3 days, the whale has sold 1,074.36 $BTC ($89.5M) and bought 36,159 $ETH ($90.6M).

7 minutes ago

Billionaire Paul says he will short U.S. stocks for the full year and holds long positions in oil.

Billionaire and legendary hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones told CNBC that 2027 could be a highly challenging year for U.S. stocks, with the market facing its most unfavorable capital flow environment since 2002. He noted that the corporate buyback and M&A trends that have supported U.S. equity gains in recent years may reverse, while AI giants’ IPOs and subsequent secondary offerings will further expand stock supply. Jones highlighted that potential listings of AI firms like OpenAI and Anthropic, plus financing needs for AI infrastructure development, could drive more corporate stock issuances. Comparing the current market to the eve of the dot-com bubble burst, he argued that a flurry of IPOs and stock lock-up expirations may exert sustained pressure on the market. Additionally, Jones warned that the U.S.’s widening fiscal deficit could eventually force the government to adjust fiscal policies amid market pressure; a $20–$25 oil price surge after the U.S. midterm elections would also likely hit stocks sharply. He said he holds long oil positions and bluntly stated: “I will be shorting the whole year.”

7 minutes ago

Binance will support the IoTeX (IOTX) network upgrade and hard fork.

Per an official announcement, Binance plans to suspend IoTeX (IOTX) token deposit and withdrawal services at 09:00 UTC+8 (China Standard Time) on October 19, 2026, to facilitate the network upgrade and hard fork. The measure is designed to deliver a seamless experience for users. The project team will execute the network upgrade and hard fork at block height 53,533,081, scheduled for approximately 10:00 UTC+8 on October 19, 2026.

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Metric will launch a decentralized exchange (DEX) for tokenized real-world assets (RWA) on the Robinhood Chain.

Metric announced it will launch a decentralized exchange on Robinhood Chain, utilizing Active Pools and propAMM infrastructure, targeting tokenized real-world assets (RWA) with established market pricing.

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A low-cost HYPE whale has cumulatively sold off tokens worth $22.49 million at a high point, generating returns exceeding 2119%.

According to on-chain analyst Ai Yi (@ai_9684xtpa), smart money holding HYPE with a cost base as low as $3.87 has been selling the token from $93 to $81, locking in an estimated profit of $21.48 million. Two hours ago, the entity deposited another 100,276 HYPE tokens (valued at approximately $8.17 million) to Kraken. Since September 28, the total amount of HYPE it has transferred to centralized exchanges (CEXs) now stands at 261,926.4 tokens, with a total value of $22.49 million. The average deposit price is $85.87, delivering a return of over 2119%.

7 minutes ago

U.S. overall inflation in September likely to see its largest increase in five months, putting October's interest rate hike expectations to the test.

Latest market projections show U.S. September headline CPI is expected to rise 0.6% month-over-month, up from August’s 0.4% and potentially marking its largest monthly gain in five months. The year-over-year CPI increase is forecast to climb from 3.4% to 3.6%. Driven by Middle East tensions and oil prices, rising energy costs are likely the main catalyst for accelerating inflation. For core CPI, markets expect a 0.2% month-over-month rise and 2.5% year-over-year gain, with the monthly pace slowing from the prior period. Goldman Sachs projects September energy prices to rise around 5% month-over-month, while housing inflation continues to cool. The divergence between headline and core inflation trends may complicate the Federal Reserve’s policy judgments. Fed officials remain divided on their next policy move. Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester believes inflationary pressures are spreading to more sectors and is open to a rate hike at the end of October; Governor Christopher Waller, however, has said there is no need for consecutive rate hikes at two back-to-back meetings. Markets will closely watch whether this data will shift expectations for the interest rate path in October and December. U.S. September CPI will be released at 20:30 tonight, September PPI will be released on Thursday, and Fed Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak on Friday. If CPI comes in higher than expected, it may reinforce expectations of further policy tightening; if core inflation slows, it may support the Fed pausing rate hikes.

7 minutes ago

Whale Rotates $89.5M from $BTC to $ETH Over 3 Days

This mysterious whale continues to rotate from $BTC into $ETH.
Over the past 3 days, the whale has sold 1,074.36 $BTC ($89.5M) and bought 36,159 $ETH ($90.6M).

7 minutes ago

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Analysis

Vangrid's bounty API lets software commission and pay people for physical-world data captures over x402. The mechanics are plain, the labor question is new, and the fine print shows where control actually sits.

An agent can now hire a person to walk somewhere and film a loading dock. One HTTP call to Vangrid’s bounty API posts the job: the agent pays the bounty in x402 on Base or Arc, Vangrid puts the request on its board from its own operator wallet, a contributor travels to the site and films it, and the agent reviews the submissions and accepts one. The escrow releases on chain and the reconstruction comes back through the same API. No account, no API key. The caller needs a wallet with USDC, and the transfer settles before the request is processed.

Every other agentic commerce surface on this beat has the agent as the buyer and a merchant as the seller. This one inverts the flow: the agent is the principal, the human is the paid labor. The documentation is blunt about the constraint that follows: “A person has to go and film, so this takes hours or days.” That latency is the honest core of the product, not a defect to be engineered away.

The economics are as plain as the mechanics. A bounty is whole USDC, quoted by the server with a default band of 50 to 5,000, and the docs call it “the price of the call and the escrow of the bounty.” Cancel or let the deadline pass (1 to 30 days, default 7) and the money returns to the paying wallet in full. Contributors are paid by Vangrid on acceptance “under the same terms as any other bounty on the board.” The platform keeps two currencies separate: points measure contribution and rank, bounty rewards are money. Each capture is anchored with an Ethereum Attestation Service attestation on Base.

The bounty-mcp server listing shows the control asymmetry in the fine print. Spend caps constrain signing. They do not constrain the two calls that matter most: accepting a submission releases the escrow, cancelling a bounty ends it, both irreversible, both outside the caps. The listing’s advice to operators is the part worth reading twice: “Gate them behind human approval for an unattended agent.” When the employer is software, the human approval gate does not disappear. It moves.

What the product does not publish matters as much as what it does. There is no volume or adoption data for the agent-bounty API. There is no documented dispute process between the agent-reviewer and the contributor beyond cancel-and-refund, which leaves the accepting agent as the judge of the human’s work. Whether that arrangement scales is an open question with a $50 floor on it.

Vangrid is Amsterdam-based, led by co-founder and CEO Robert Brighton, and raised $9 million in an August seed round (SAFT) reported by FinSMEs and tech.eu, with backers including HashKey Capital, Borderless Capital, Crypto.com Capital, Animoca Brands, Gate Labs and Mapleblock. Its docs list sovereign defense, embodied AI, autonomous logistics and critical infrastructure as use cases. Captures blur faces and number plates on the device before the video is encoded.

What keeps this standing when the excitement drops is that nobody is pretending the work is instant or free. A $50 minimum and a days-long latency are physical labor priced without apology. The open questions are older than the protocol: who writes the brief, and who judges the work. The documentation already answers a third one. Somewhere between an autonomous agent and a person with a phone there is a human approval gate, and the product knows it.

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Starknet launches shadow accounts, enabling users to anonymously link their main wallets with DeFi activities.

According to an official announcement, Starknet has launched Shadow Accounts, allowing users to participate in public DeFi activities via an independent, self-controlled address while keeping the link between this address and their main wallet confidential. Shadow Accounts are independent pseudonymous addresses on Starknet, funded by users’ protected STRK20 balances. The first integration will launch tomorrow. While the balance, transaction history, and application positions of Shadow Accounts remain publicly visible on-chain, STRK20 protects the connection between these accounts and users’ main wallets. This means users do not need to hide their DeFi activities themselves, while reducing the likelihood that external observers can trace those activities back to their main wallets.

39 minutes ago

Applied Materials forecasts its services business revenue will grow by more than 20% by 2026, and top $12 billion by 2030.

Applied Materials (AMAT.O) said it targets a non-GAAP gross margin of 54% and operating margin of 40% by 2030. It projects its services business revenue will grow by over 20% in 2026, and exceed $12 billion by 2030. The company plans to expand its R&D labs and manufacturing capacity to more than double current levels by 2030, return 80% to 100% of its free cash flow to shareholders by 2030, and lift its wafer fabrication equipment (WFE) market share by more than 2 percentage points between 2025 and 2030.

39 minutes ago

Perspective: Bitcoin investors who accumulated positions at high levels have their cost prices capping upside potential, with selling pressure having notably eased.

Glassnode stated that the cost basis of investors who purchased Bitcoin at high levels continues to cap its upside potential. Following Bitcoin’s rebound to around $88,000, investors with 1 to 2-year holding periods sold off heavily, and this price level is also near the break-even point for investors who have held Bitcoin for 6 to 12 months. Bitcoin’s price subsequently faced resistance below this level, and this selling pressure has now eased significantly.

39 minutes ago

21Shares Launches Synthetic Anthropic ETP on the Vienna Stock Exchange

21Shares has launched a synthetic Anthropic ETP on the Vienna Stock Exchange, trading under the ticker CLAU, providing investors with non-leveraged exposure linked to the pre-IPO implied valuation of the artificial intelligence startup. The ETP does not grant investors direct ownership of Anthropic shares, either before or after the firm goes public. The product accesses this exposure via total return swaps (TRS), tracking a reference rate compiled by Kaiko, which is calculated based on Anthropic’s perpetual futures prices on Binance.

39 minutes ago

Ripple partners with Stripe-owned Privy to introduce embedded wallet functionality for the XRP Ledger.

Ripple has partnered with Stripe-owned wallet infrastructure firm Privy to integrate support for the XRP Ledger (XRPL) into Privy’s developer platform. The integration eliminates the need for developers to build their own wallet infrastructure, allowing them to add XRPL wallets to their applications with features including wallet creation and management, transaction signing, plus support for XRP, Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin, and other assets on the network.

39 minutes ago

USDC moved $81.2 billion through decentralized exchanges in the 30 days ending around October 12, 2026.

Uniswap’s v3 and v4 deployments handled $26.4 billion of that total, or roughly a third.

Breaking down the numbers
Across 35 trading venues, all stablecoins combined generated $161.4 billion in DEX volume over the same 30-day window. USDC accounted for roughly half of all stablecoin trading on decentralized exchanges.

Uniswap’s v3 and v4 platforms captured 47.2% of total stablecoin DEX activity, amounting to $76.2 billion. Thirty-four other venues split what was left.

USDC’s circulating supply sat at approximately $74.6 billion at the end of September 2026. So the 30-day trading volume exceeded the entire stock of USDC in existence.

Weekends are a big deal on-chain
USDC generated $40.2 billion in weekend DEX trading volume during the third quarter of 2026.

What is driving the activity
About 69% of USDC’s on-chain activity is linked to DEX liquidity provision.

There is a caveat worth noting. Some DEX volume gets inflated by flash loans, which are uncollateralized loans borrowed and repaid within a single transaction. These can create large headline numbers without reflecting sustained trading demand.

Why Uniswap keeps winning
Uniswap’s v4 release introduced lower fees and enhanced routing options. For stablecoin pairs, those features matter a great deal. When you are swapping one dollar-pegged token for another, the price barely moves. The main cost is the fee itself, so shaving it down makes a real difference for high-volume traders.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Vivian Nguyen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.

Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.

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Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.

Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA.

Semiconductor and storage sectors were broadly lower in U.S. pre-market trading, with SanDisk and Micron down more than 3% each, and SK Hynix ADR dropping 5%.

According to market data from BIT (bit.com), semiconductor and storage sectors are broadly lower in pre-market US trading: Seagate Technology (STX) down 3.4%; Western Digital (WDC) down 3.8%; SanDisk (SNDK) down 3.3%; Micron Technology (MU) down 3.03%; SK Hynix ADR down 5%; NVIDIA (NVDA) down 0.8%; Intel (INTC) down 0.95%; Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) down 1.84%.

11 minutes ago

A crypto whale transferred 5,170 ETH to Tornado Cash, valued at $12.82 million.

According to on-chain analyst Ai Yi (@ai_9684xtpa), a whale that accumulated 5,147 ETH at an average price of $1,886.7 between August 12 and 13 transferred 5,170 ETH (valued at $12.82 million) to Tornado Cash five hours ago. The batch of tokens has an unrealized profit of $3.056 million, and the purpose of the transfer remains unknown.

11 minutes ago

Analysis: Bitcoin long-term holders have been generating consistent profits since 2023, with their current unrealized profit buffer reaching 72%.

Crypto market analyst Axel Adler Jr says on-chain data shows the average cost basis of Bitcoin long-term holders (LTHs) stands at $48,600, with the current price roughly 72% above that level. This group has remained in profit since January 2023, with its closest approach to the cost line coming in March 2023. The LTH average cost basis has fallen 1.7% since hitting a peak of $49,500 on July 30. Since August 1, 60 out of 74 days have recorded negative weekly changes, with the largest single-week drop hitting 0.34% on August 25, and the current reading standing at -0.06%. The analyst notes this decline remains moderate; a further drop would signal accelerating selling pressure, while a return to positive territory would mean long-term holders are resuming accumulation.

11 minutes ago

Binance will adjust leverage and margin tiers for multiple USDT-margined perpetual contracts.

Binance will update the leverage and margin tiers for U.S. dollar-margined perpetual contracts including BLURUSDT, VELODROMEUSDT, MOVRUSDT, COOKIEUSDT, CVCUSDT, BICOUSDT, ARKUSDT, RAREUSDT, STXUSDT, JASMYUSDT, WIFUSDT, LSKUSDT, PTBUSDT and LYNUSDT at 14:30 (GMT+8) on October 16, 2026. The update is scheduled to be completed within one hour.

11 minutes ago

Bybit CEO Announces Plans to Launch Tokenized Stocks mStocks, Supporting 24/7 Two-Way Conversion and DEX Trading

Bybit CEO Ben Zhou announced during the "Make Your Move" global keynote speech that Bybit will partner with Mantle to launch the tokenized stock product mStocks. The product is fully backed by real assets at a 1:1 ratio, supports 24/7 round-the-clock two-way conversion, and will enable all AMM liquidity pools in the Mantle ecosystem for users to trade via decentralized exchanges.

11 minutes ago

Bybit CEO: Bybit's stock trading will subsequently support collateral, lending, and broker position transfers.

Bybit CEO Ben Zhou announced the launch of Bybit Direct Stock during his "Make Your Move" global keynote speech. Users can directly hold and trade real stocks via Bybit, gaining access to over 1,000 trading pairs and assets from the US market, as well as full ownership of the underlying stocks. Ben Zhou noted that these stock assets will be held in the Unified Trading Account (UTA). Going forward, Bybit plans to further support stocks as trading collateral and roll out a stock lending service. Additionally, the platform will facilitate broker transfers, enabling users to move stocks held at brokers such as Futu and Moomoo to their Bybit accounts for custody.

11 minutes ago