Standard Chartered has rolled out a bank-led gateway for USDC minting and redemption, giving eligible institutional clients direct access to the stablecoin from inside the bank’s own platform. Built in partnership with Circle, the USDC issuer, the new product bundles fiat banking, custody, digital-asset infrastructure and public-blockchain connectivity into a single onboarding and servicing experience — so clients don’t need to open separate accounts with Circle to mint or redeem USDC.
The service launches initially through Standard Chartered’s Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) operations, with plans to expand into additional markets pending local approvals and market readiness. The bank says this makes it the first Global Systemically Important Bank (GSIB) licensed to offer integrated USDC minting and redemption to institutional clients.
Use cases targeted by the offering include on-chain settlement, treasury operations and liquidity management, with a clear path to support payment-related workflows as stablecoin infrastructure becomes more embedded in institutional processes. Roberto Hoornweg, CEO for Corporate and Investment Banking at Standard Chartered, framed the move as responding to client demand for “the same trust and governance standards that support traditional markets” as digital assets become a larger part of global financial infrastructure.
Circle’s Chief Commercial Officer Kash Razzaghi said the integration lets financial institutions gain “trusted access to stablecoins and blockchain-based markets,” enabling USDC use across payments, settlement and treasury without banks having to run custody or blockchain operations themselves.
The launch comes amid a broader push by banks and fintechs to offer native stablecoin services. BNY Mellon recently enabled clients to mint and redeem USDC directly from its platform, and Circle has expanded its institutional payment network with a managed USDC settlement option for banks and fintechs. Standard Chartered highlighted the DIFC debut as reinforcing the UAE’s position as a hub for regulated digital-asset activity — an environment that has also produced the UAE’s first central bank–approved dollar-backed stablecoin, which competes with USDC in some institutional scenarios.
Market context: competition for institutional stablecoin access is intensifying. Circle has faced headwinds — its shares dropped about 17.5% following removals from the Russell Growth index and the launch of Open USD, a rival stablecoin backed by other partners. Meanwhile, startups and infrastructure providers are also moving in: Checker recently raised $8 million to help banks and fintechs launch stablecoin products via a single API.
By embedding USDC minting and redemption inside a regulated bank platform, Standard Chartered aims to remove friction for corporates and financial institutions exploring tokenised cashflows — a sign that traditional banks are accelerating their digital-asset capabilities to meet growing institutional demand.
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