Bank of New York Mellon to custody Circle's USDC stablecoin reserves

The Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE:BK) is accelerating its entry into the digital asset space following its move Thursday to serve as the primary custodian for USD Coin (USDC-USD) reserves. Circle Internet Financial, the sole issuer of USDC, had selected BNY Mellon (BK) to custody the reserve assets backing USDC. Note that USDC is the second largest stablecoin by market cap, with just under 52B tokens in circulation as of March. Tether (USDT-USD) tops the list with a circulating supply of 81.93B coins. “Our role as a custodian for USDC reserves supports the broader marketplace and brings value to clients,” said Roman Regelman, CEO of Asset Servicing and head of Digital at BNY Mellon. The lender's move comes about a month after it planned to launch a crypto custody platform.