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Circle, issuer of the $48 billion USDC stablecoin, has announced the acquisition of Hashnote, a leading tokenized real-world asset dealer. Hashnote is the creator of USYC, a tokenized money market fund with over $1.3 billion in assets. The acquisition was completed during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
The acquisition of Hashnote places Circle at the forefront of creating real assets using blockchain technology. Circle’s announcement said the acquisition will bridge traditional financial markets with the tokenized assets needed to develop the digital economy of the future.
Hashnote’s USYC token, which has grown to become the number 1 tokenized U.S. Treasury bond product, will be integrated into Circle’s platform. The integration will enable USYC to act as a yield-based security on digital asset exchanges, including securities providers and asset custodians.
“We helped tokenize cash and now play a key role in the tokenized money market, which we believe will become a critical part of the future of the global financial system,” said Jeremy Alaire, CEO of Circle.
Meanwhile, the use of USDC has seen a significant increase, with Coinbase reportedly allowing users to borrow USDC using bitcoin as collateral. The new service allows borrowers to borrow up to $100,000 using the Morpho protocol on the Base blockchain.
Circle also plans to integrate USDC with the Canton Network, a blockchain for real-world transactions backed by the largest traditional financial institutions, processing over $1.5 trillion in transactions per month. The partnership will facilitate the seamless exchange between USDC and USYC, which will increase liquidity to meet market demands and facilitate more efficient settlement.
This integration will enable 24/7 transfer of collateral and cash, bridging the gap between decentralized and traditional finance.
Following the acquisition, Leo Mizuhara, CEO and founder of Hashnote, expressed his excitement: “Joining Circle gives us the potential to rapidly increase the quality of our assets by pairing USDC, a widely used and highly liquid stablecoin, with USYC, a safe money market fund for yield.”
Circle also has a partnership with Cumberland, a DRW-affiliated trading firm, to provide liquidity to USDC and USYC. Cumberland will leverage its expertise in providing collateral management and settlement services tailored to institutional digital asset transactions.
This partnership will accelerate the adoption of stablecoins and tokenized assets on global trading platforms. The acquisition of USDC operator Hashnote marks a significant change in the evolution of the tokenized currency market, leading to an ecosystem of infinite cash and yield-producing assets.
Jeremy Aler also expressed his hopes for pro-crypto policies from former President Donald Trump, highlighting his hopes for an executive order that would allow banks to offer crypto trading services and eliminate strict regulations like SAB 121 in the future.
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