Circle Internet Group (bStocks Tokenized Stock) — Project Update
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Circle Acquires Interop Labs (Axelar Developer)
Circle signed an agreement to acquire the Interop Labs team and its proprietary intellectual property, the initial and leading contributor to the Axelar Network, with the deal expected to close in early 2026 1. The acquisition is intended to accelerate Circle's goal of making assets issued on its Arc blockchain interoperable across networks, expand developer tooling and SDKs for multichain applications, and boost first-party app development 1. Notably, the Axelar Network, Foundation, and AXL token will continue to operate independently under community governance, and open-source IP will remain open-source 1. Interoperability refers to the ability of assets and applications to move and communicate across different blockchains.
Circle Wins Conditional National Trust Bank Charter
Circle received conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish a national trust bank, which will allow it to manage USDC reserves under federal oversight, focused on custody and payment services without deposit-taking or lending 2. The OCC also conditionally approved Ripple, Paxos, BitGo, and Fidelity Digital Assets for similar charters, aligning with the Trump administration's crypto-friendly policies and fulfilling stablecoin requirements under the recently enacted GENIUS Act 2. A trust bank is a specialized institution focused on custody and reserve management rather than traditional deposit and lending activities.
Visa Adopts USDC for Bank Settlement
Visa announced it will allow US banks to transact using USDC stablecoins for settlement, with initial participants Cross River Bank and Lead Bank settling over the Solana blockchain, and broader US availability planned through 2026 3. Visa stated that USDC settlement offers faster transactions and seven-day availability without altering the consumer card experience 3. Circle also partnered with Visa on "Arc," a new Layer 1 blockchain for Visa's global commercial activity 3.
Biggest Stories of 2025
Intuit plans to use Circle and USDC infrastructure, integrating Circle's technology within Intuit's financial product ecosystem. (December 28, 2025) 4
Circle acquired Interop Labs, the developer team behind Axelar Network, to accelerate interoperability for assets issued on Arc, with the deal expected to close in early 2026. (December 15, 2025) 1
Circle received conditional OCC approval to establish a national trust bank for managing USDC reserves under federal oversight. (December 13, 2025) 2
Circle introduced StableFX, an onchain foreign-exchange engine for institutions built on Arc, live on the Arc testnet ahead of a planned 2026 mainnet launch. (November 13, 2025) 5
Circle became a direct stakeholder in HYPE and disclosed plans to explore becoming a Hyperliquid Validator, following its deployment of USDC and CCTP V2 on HyperEVM. (September 16, 2025) 6
Circle received In-Principal Approval from Abu Dhabi Global Market's FSRA to operate as a money services provider, following its December 2024 incorporation in the ADGM. (April 29, 2025) 7
USDC and Circle's developer tools went live on Unichain, giving developers access to USDC, CCTP, and Circle's Programmable Wallets. (February 11, 2025) 8
Circle published its monthly EURC Reserves Holding reports throughout the year, confirming that total assets held in custody met or exceeded token balances each month. (January–June 2025) 9101112
Circle debuted on the NYSE on June 5, surging 168% by the end of its first trading day and raising nearly $1.1 billion, one of the few major tech IPOs of 2025. (June 5, 2025) 13