Circle Raises Fees Despite Rising Stablecoin Market Competition

For the second time in less than a year, Circle Internet Financial Ltd. has increased the fees it charges to cash out holdings of its USDC stablecoin.

Redemption of USDC via the Circle Mint platform used to be free and unlimited. In February, Circle introduced a fee for swaps above $15 million. Now, there are additional fees applicable to users seeking near-instant redemption of USDC if the value exceeds more than $2 million a day. Those fees start at 0.03% per transaction at that threshold, and increase in tranches to as much as 0.1% for redemptions above $15 million. 

“Circle Mint redemption options support the availability of instant liquidity globally — similar to banks and other financial institutions that charge for speed and service,” a Circle spokesperson said in a statement provided to Bloomberg News.

Traders can opt to redeem USDC for free if they are willing to wait as many as two days to receive their cash. Circle introduced the new tiered fee structure in late September, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named sharing private information. Clients have expressed concern to Circle that the rising fees make USDC less appealing to use for trades, the person said. 

Competition among stablecoins has ramped up this year, as new issuers flood the market and traditional financial entities like BlackRock Inc. seek ways to increase usage of their own tokens as collateral. 

Circle has also struggled to keep pace with the growth of its much larger rival. Tether Holdings Ltd.’s USDT token, which makes up about 70% of the stablecoin market, hit a record high of $120.6 billion in circulation this month. Tether charges a fee of 0.1% to mint or redeem more than $100,000 in USDT with the issuer, according to its website.

Circle continues to pursue plans for a stock-market listing of its shares, its Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Allaire told Bloomberg News this month, after confidentially filing a draft registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission in January. The company previously attempted to go public via a merger with a blank-check firm; that deal was scrapped in 2022. 

Circle’s shares traded this month on secondary markets at a valuation of around $4.5 billion, according to data from Bulletin. That’s about a 42% decline from its $7.7 billion price tag in 2022, Bulletin data showed, when it raised around $400 million from investors including BlackRock Inc. and Marshall Wace LLP. 

With assistance from Philip Lagerkranser.

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