Circle Partners With New York Community Bancorp — Bank to Custody USDC Reserves

Circle Internet Financial has revealed a usd coin custody partnership with the American bank holding company New York Community Bancorp (NYCB). Under the agreement, NYCB’s subsidiary, New York Community Bank, will become a custodian for the company’s stablecoin reserves.

On Tuesday, Circle announced that it is collaborating with NYCB, the parent company of the U.S. Bank National Association. According to the announcement, NYCB’s subsidiary, New York Community Bank, will custody reserves for Circle’s popular stablecoin usd coin (USDC).

USDC is the second largest stablecoin today with a $53.9 billion market capitalization. During the past 24 hours, Circle’s USDC stablecoin has seen $5 billion in global trade volume. New York Community Bank will also work with Circle in order to provide unbanked communities with access to low-cost financial solutions.

The companies’ strategies will leverage blockchain solutions and stablecoin systems. Solutions include the allocation of USDC dollar-denominated reserves to Minority Depository Institutions Programs (MDIs) and community banks. Dante Disparte, the chief strategy officer and head of global policy for Circle, explained that the future of money will be more inclusive.

“If we want to make the future of money and payments more inclusive than the past, we have to build new partnerships and connections at the community level,” Disparte remarked in a statement.

Circle’s chief strategy officer added:

By partnering with NYCB, we are opening up new pathways for community banks and MDIs across the country to be key participants in the fast-growing digital assets market.

On November 17, 2021, Disparte wrote a blog post that explained how Circle wants to “[improve] financial inclusion and economic prosperity for all.” The post discusses working with community banks and MDIs, and the concept of “raising global economic prosperity through the frictionless exchange of financial value.”

The partnership with NYCB follows Moneygram launching a USDC crypto-to-cash program in specific markets. Furthermore, Circle recently launched USDC on the Polygon blockchain network and issued a second major stablecoin backed 1:1 with the euro.

Andrew Kaplan, the executive vice president and chief digital bank and banking as a service officer at NYCB said that the financial institution was “proud to be a leading digital asset innovator among U.S. banks.”

“We are thrilled that together with being a custodian for USDC reserves, we are also able to partner with Circle on meaningful initiatives to impact inclusion and education to our communities and customers,” Kaplan concluded.

In addition to NYCB, the financial giants Blackrock and BNY Mellon have partnered with Circle as well. Blackrock was named “a primary asset manager of USDC cash reserves,” and America’s oldest investment bank BNY Mellon was also revealed as a USDC custodian last April.

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