Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, has announced that it will end support for its stablecoin on the Flow blockchain as of September 3, 2024.
In an August 5 blog post, Circle announced that its decision to end support for USDC (USDC) on Flow (FLOW) is due to the blockchain network’s upcoming Crescendo upgrade. Minting of the dollar-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 who hold 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 on September 4, 2024, at 5 a.m. PT.
USDC in flow
As the deadline approaches, the stablecoin issuer will freeze all USDC available on Flow. A snapshot showing users’ professional and institutional client balances on-chain will facilitate manual redemptions that will begin on September 4, 2024.
Circle states in its blog post that it is only for professional and institutional clients. As such, Flow provided an explanation of what to expect for its USDC holders and non-Circle customers with balances on the blockchain.
“Effective September 3, 2024 at 3:00 AM EST, in advance of the Crescendo network upgrade, Circle will cease support for USDC on Cadence as EVM-based ERC-20 USDC will naturally become compatible with the entire Flow ecosystem. Circle and Flow will provide dedicated resources and support to facilitate this process, ensuring a smooth transition for all users,” Team Flow said in the announcement posted on August 5.
What’s next for users?
According to the Flow update, the Flow team will be issuing a new wrapped token to the network within the next seven days.
The wrapped token will be backed by USDC bridged on the Ethereum (ETH) network, allowing USDC holders on the Cadence version of Flow to easily swap them ahead of the September 3 upgrade.
This means users can choose between multiple methods when looking to wrap and bond assets ahead of the Crescendo upgrade, including depositing to Dapper Wallet, swapping tokens for Flow’s native FLOW token, or the soon-to-launch Wrapped USDC.
They can also choose to wait for manual reimbursement after the September 3 deadline.
