
Standard Chartered Becomes First Global Bank to Offer Direct USDC Access
Standard Chartered will let institutional clients mint and redeem Circle's USDC stablecoin directly through banking rails, starting in Dubai.

Nadia Hassan
North Africa Editor · Cairo
Standard Chartered has become the first Global Systemically Important Bank to give institutional clients direct access to mint and redeem Circle's USDC stablecoin, a move that pulls a major dollar-pegged token deeper into regulated banking infrastructure. The development, reported by Decrypt and Cointelegraph, signals a maturing relationship between traditional finance and the stablecoin market that has largely operated at the edges of the banking system.
What the deal covers
Under the arrangement, institutional customers of Standard Chartered will be able to create new USDC and convert it back into fiat directly through the bank, rather than relying solely on crypto-native intermediaries. According to Cointelegraph, the service launches in Dubai's DIFC — the emirate's financial free zone — with the partners planning to expand the offering to other markets over time.
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