Circle (USDC) redeemed approximately $5.7 billion worth of USDC in the seven days ending December 29 while issuing $4.6 billion.

This resulted in a net circulation decrease of $1.1 billion.

Total USDC circulation now stands at 75.9 billion tokens backed by $76.3 billion in reserves.

The decline continues a pattern of supply contraction observed throughout December as institutional redemptions outpaced new issuance.

What Happened

Circle's reserve composition remains heavily weighted toward short-term U.S. government securities.

Approximately $51 billion sits in overnight reverse repurchase agreements.

Around $14.6 billion is held in Treasury bills with maturities under three months.

The company maintains about $10 billion in deposits at systemically important financial institutions.

An additional $800 million remains in other bank deposits.

Earlier in December, USDC circulation stood at 77.2 billion after a similar $1.3 billion weekly decline from December 11-18.

The consecutive weeks of net redemptions mark a shift from mid-year growth when circulation reached 78 billion in early December.

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Why It Matters

USDC circulation fluctuations reflect institutional cryptocurrency market sentiment and liquidity management strategies.

The second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization competes with Tether's USDT, which maintains circulation above $137 billion.

Circle maintains full dollar backing through highly liquid reserves held separately from operating funds.

Monthly third-party attestations from Deloitte verify reserve adequacy.

Year-over-year, USDC circulation grew 78% despite December's decline, reaching $73.7 billion at the end of Q3 2025 before late-year fluctuations.

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