Circle to discontinue USDC support on Flow blockchain

Circle, the issuer of stablecoin USDC, has announced that it will end support for the stablecoin on the Flow blockchain, effective September 3, 2024.

Circle announced in a blog post on August 5 that the decision to end support for USDC (USDC) on Flow (FLOW) is due to the blockchain network’s upcoming Crescendo upgrade. Minting of the USD-pegged stablecoin will continue on Flow until August 27, 2024 at 12:00 PM ET.

“Circle Mint customers, retail USDC holders, and non-Circle customers holding USDC on Flow (Cadence) are strongly encouraged to transfer from Flow to other blockchains before the September 3, 2024 deadline,” Circle wrote.

Flow’s Crescendo upgrade is expected to occur on September 4, 2024 at 05:00 UTC.

USDC in Flow

Once the deadline arrives, the stablecoin issuer will freeze all existing USDC on Flow. A snapshot showing user business and institutional client balances on-chain will help facilitate manual refunds, which will begin on September 4, 2024.

Circle notes in its blog post that it only caters to business and institutional customers, so Flow provided a clarification on what happens next for USDC holders and non-Circle customers who have balances on the blockchain.

“As of September 3, 2024 at 3 a.m. ET, prior to the Crescendo network upgrade, Circle will end support for USDC on Cadence, with EVM-based ERC-20 USDC becoming natively compatible across the entire Flow ecosystem. Circle and Flow will offer dedicated resources and support to facilitate this process, ensuring a seamless transition for all users,” Team Flow said in an announcement published on August 5.

So what awaits users next?

According to the update from Flow, the Flow team will be releasing a new wrapped token to the network within the next seven days.

The wrapped token will be backed by USDC bridged over the Ethereum (ETH) network, allowing those who hold USDC in the Cadence version of Flow to easily swap them ahead of the September 3 upgrade.

This means users will be able to choose from a variety of ways to wrap and bridge assets ahead of the Crescendo upgrade, including depositing funds into Dapper Wallet, converting tokens to Flow’s native token FLOW, or transferring them to the soon-to-be-launched wrapped USDC.

Alternatively, they may choose to wait for manual redemption after the September 3 deadline.