Circle, the issuer of the United States dollar-pegged stablecoin USD Coin, says it will discontinue support for the token on the Tron blockchain, saying the decision aligns with “efforts to ensure that USDC remains trusted, transparent and safe.”
“Effective immediately we will no longer mint USDC on TRON,” Circle said in a Feb. 20 blog post, adding it would gradually phase out support for the blockchain network.
Circle noted that it would still support its Circle Mint business customers’ USD Coin (USDC) transfers to other blockchains until February 2025.
The company urged retail users and non-Circle customers to move their Tron-based USDC to an exchange so that it could be transferred to a blockchain network where USDC is still supported.
1/ We are discontinuing USDC on the TRON blockchain in a phased transition. Effective immediately, we will no longer mint USDC on TRON. Transfers and redemptions of USDC on TRON will continue to operate normally through February 2025. Read the details: https://t.co/kw9A3ZUpWH— Circle (@circle) February 21, 2024
Circle did not give a reason for stopping support for Tron, only saying it “continually assesses the suitability of all blockchains” as part of its risk management process.
The firm added that the move to pull Tron support was the “result of an enterprise-wide approach that involved the business organization, compliance, and other functions across our company.”
A Tron spokesperson pointed Cointelegraph to a Feb. 21 X post, saying it was the firms “official statement” and added Tron did not receive further information from Circle on why it pulled support and was not notified in advance.
TRON is a decentralized public blockchain, similar to Bitcoin and Ethereum. The community of developers for TRON maintains the network’s normal operations through consensus voting.
We respect the decision of the countless developers who chose TRON to create world-class products… pic.twitter.com/cgIpoxqpii— TRON DAO (@trondao) February 21, 2024
Related: US Treasury Secretary calls for federal regulator to oversee stablecoins
In January, Circle filed to go public in the United States. Its USDC stablecoin commands a market capitalization of nearly $28 billion — second only to its rival stablecoin Tether (USDT), which boasts a valuation of $97.5 billion, according to CoinGecko data.
In November 2023, Circle shot down claims it provides services to Tron founder Justin Sun, saying it hadn’t done so since February 2023 after an ethics group wrote to the U. S. Senators claiming the firm was “compromised by its integration” with the Tron network.
The Campaign for Accountability group said that Tron “has been named in multiple international law enforcement actions involving billions of dollars in transactions by alleged organized crime groups and sanctioned entities.”
The U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued Sun and the Tron Foundation in March 2023, alleging they offered unregistered securities and conducted manipulative trading, which Sun denies.
Update (Feb. 22, 11:50 pm UTC): This article has been updated with comment from a Tron spokesperson.