USDC Issuer Circle is Shutting Down Consumer Accounts

Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, is shuttering its consumer accounts, according to a statement made to The Defiant.

"Circle is phasing out support for legacy consumer accounts and has notified individual consumers of this decision,"a Circle spokesperson said, replying to a request for comment. "Account closures do not apply to business or institutional Circle Mint accounts."

Consequent to this move, only business accounts will be able to mint USDC and redeem USD.

A screenshot of an email, shared on X by user Evanss6, quotes Circle as saying, "as part of Circle's strategic review, consumer-only Circle Accounts will no longer be supported."

The reports shared on social media show Circle plans to discontinue wiring and minting functionalities and close consumer accounts by Nov. 30.

The motivation or rationale behind this unexpected decision remains unclear.

UPDATED on 10/31 @ 11:32am EST to include Circle's statement.