Circle Internet Group announced its acquisition of Hashnote – the issuer of stablecoin USYC incubated by Cumberland Labs. Circle intends to fully integrate USYC with USDC, offering access between tokenized money market fund (TMMF) collateral and USDC, a stablecoin issued by Circle.
This will enable USYC to emerge as a preferred form of yield-bearing collateral on crypto exchanges, and also with custodians and prime brokers.
“The integration of USYC and Hashnote into Circle’s platform marks a major moment in the evolution of the stablecoin market, as cash and yield-bearing short-duration treasury bill assets become fungible and convertible at the speed of blockchains and crypto capital markets. This is a huge unlock for a market that is increasingly being driven by institutional adoption, and where participants increasingly expect market structures that are common in TradFi,” said Jeremy Allaire, CEO and chair of Circle, in a statement.
“We helped invent tokenized cash, and are now leading the way in tokenized money markets, both of which we believe will become essential to the future of the global financial system. Circle’s acquisition of Hashnote and our strategic partnership with DRW-affiliate Cumberland are crucial to driving and delivering these products at scale.”
“Hashnote’s beginnings are rooted in recognizing the pivotal role blockchain-based transparency and settlement would play in future financial transactions,” said Leo Mizuhara, CEO and founder of Hashnote. “Joining Circle increases our ability to rapidly scale adoption by pairing USDC, a widely-used, liquid payment and trading stablecoin, with USYC, a safe, tokenized money market fund for yield-bearing collateral.”
The deal is bolstered by a partnership with DRW, one of the largest institutional crypto traders via its subsidiary Cumberland. As marquee products for its trading operation, Cumberland will expand its institutional-grade liquidity and settlement capabilities in USDC and USYC, where permitted. Cumberland’s expertise and own use cases will help drive innovation in the use of these products for more efficient and seamless collateral management.
According to 3rd-party analysts RWA.xyz, USYC is the largest tokenized treasury and money market fund in the world, with $1.52 billion deployed into USYC as of January 15, 2025. USYC is already supported by many major digital asset trading firms and derivatives exchanges.
Additionally, alongside these strategic deals, Circle is also announcing its planned deployment of native USDC on Canton, a public blockchain for fully private and secure financial applications. With over $3.6 trillion in RWA issued and over $1.5 trillion repo/month, Canton is already used and supported by major traditional banks, trading firms, asset managers and exchanges. With USYC already supported on Canton, offering native USDC integration will enable a seamless and 24/7/365 convertibility between collateral and cash for use in TradFi markets onchain.
“For over a decade I have championed the opportunity for traditional finance to be made more efficient and resilient by leveraging public blockchains,” said Don Wilson, CEO and founder of DRW, in a statement. “I am excited to partner with Circle in its quest to make this a reality. By utilizing the Canton blockchain, which offers configurable privacy, for USDC, and acquiring Hashnote, which issues USYC, Circle unites the key elements necessary to enable 24/7 collateral and variation margin movement across both crypto and traditional markets.”