Circle is the issuer of USDC, the second-largest stablecoin by market cap. USDC reserves are held in short-duration US Treasuries (via BlackRock's Circle Reserve Fund) and cash deposits at BNY Mellon. Monthly attestations are published by Deloitte. Circle operates Circle Mint for institutional direct minting/burning and Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP) for multi-chain transfers.
Visit Circle (USDC)It depends on what you need it to survive. Circle (USDC) runs multi-institution reserves (blackrock + bny mellon) custody, with no single point of failure recorded: no one institution's failure reaches your bitcoin on its own. Proof of Custody scores it 82/100 as of 2026-03-02. Multi-institution custody is a good fit for holders who want independence to be structural rather than a personal discipline — the separation survives your attention span, your health, and your heirs, and the wrong choice for holders whose definition of bitcoin includes holding a key personally — you do not hold one, and no amount of structure changes that. The score is an editorial judgement; the facts to check are the custody model, the single point of failure and the incident history below.
| Custody model | Multi-Institution Reserves (BlackRock + BNY Mellon) Proof of Custody classification from the provider's own documents |
|---|---|
| Single point of failure | No: no single party can move or lose the holding alone Record as of 2026-03-02 |
| Who holds the keys | Not published in enough detail to state |
| Independence standard | 4 of 4 pillars met |
| Insurance | Not disclosed by the provider |
| Regulatory standing | Money Transmitter (49 states); UK EMI License; France DASP; Singapore MPI Jurisdiction: United States |
| Qualified custodian | No |
| Incidents in the registry | None recorded. Absence from the registry is not evidence of safety. |
| Fees | Free mint/burn (institutional) Provider pricing page; verify before relying on it |
| Minimum | $0 (exchanges) / $100K (Circle Mint) |
| Proof of Custody score | 82/100 Editorial judgement on the published methodology, as of 2026-03-02 |
Facts come from the provider's own documents and public filings, with the date they were last checked. The score is Proof of Custody's judgement. Dispute a row through the corrections process.
USDC reserves custodied by BlackRock (Circle Reserve Fund) and BNY Mellon. Monthly attestations by Deloitte. Most transparent stablecoin issuer and GENIUS Act ready.
Circle operates as a single issuer entity. Reserves are diversified across institutions but redemption depends on Circle's operational continuity.
2 independent parties or systems must fail before a Circle (USDC) holder's bitcoin is at risk.
Circle (USDC)'s custody insurance is not publicly disclosed.
Circle (USDC) uses a multi-institution reserves (blackrock + bny mellon) model and scores 82/100 in our independent review, including 85/100 on custody security. No single institution can unilaterally move funds. Safety depends on your priorities; see the full score breakdown above.
Circle (USDC)'s custody insurance is not publicly disclosed in a form we can verify. Where it exists, custody insurance covers specific named events up to shared limits and does not cover price loss. Confirm coverage in writing before relying on it.
Circle (USDC)'s architecture distributes control, so no single institution's failure alone can move or lose your bitcoin. Recovery depends on the specific structure; see the custody section above.
Circle (USDC) does not advertise a dedicated inheritance or beneficiary feature in the data we track. Confirm current options with the provider, since custody inheritance handling changes.