BNY Mellon, Circle expand USDC minting on custody platform

BNY Mellon and Circle expanded their partnership on Monday to enable institutional clients to custody, transfer, mint and burn USDC directly through BNY’s Digital Asset Custody platform. USDC will be the first stablecoin supported on the service.

Under the agreement, clients can hold USDC in BNY digital custody wallets and instruct the bank to convert U.S. dollars into newly minted USDC or redeem USDC back into dollars. Circle's USDC is the second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization.

BNY will use its existing custody infrastructure to handle transfers, minting and burning, acting as a conduit between traditional fiat accounts and on-chain dollar balances. The arrangement builds on BNY’s role as primary custodian for USDC reserves.

Kash Razzaghi, Circle’s chief commercial officer, commented, “BNY has always been where institutional finance moves first, and making USDC the first stablecoin included in their new offering reflects the regulatory rigor Circle has built into USDC from day one. This is the next chapter in a longstanding relationship that now gives BNY clients connectivity between on-chain and traditional assets, within the infrastructure they already trust.”

BNY intends to add support for additional stablecoin issuers over time. Earlier this year the bank launched a tokenized deposit service for six clients, including ICE and Citadel Securities. The bank offers regulated digital asset custody in the United States and other regions and provides custody services tied to a majority of spot bitcoin and ether exchange-traded funds.

Institutional clients using BNY’s Digital Asset Custody platform will be able to manage USDC alongside other assets held at the bank. On-demand conversion instructions will be routed through BNY’s systems so clients can move between fiat and on-chain dollars within the same custody environment.

The integration of minting and redemption functions into BNY’s custody platform is designed to automate operational flows for institutional users that need on-chain dollars for trading, settlement or treasury purposes.