Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), is exploring the integration of Circle’s stablecoin products—USD Coin (USDC) and US Yield Coin (USYC)—across its financial infrastructure.
According to a March 27 announcement, the initiative will examine how these stablecoins could be integrated across ICE’s exchanges, clearing operations, and market data platforms.
USDC, Circle’s flagship stablecoin, recently crossed the $60 billion mark in market capitalization, making it the second-largest stablecoin globally after Tether’s USDT.
The asset is backed by reserves managed through the Circle Reserve Fund, a government money market fund registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Since its launch in 2018, USDC has grown to support hundreds of millions of wallets and serves a broad range of use cases—from facilitating crypto trading to enabling seamless global payments and preserving dollar value in digital form.
ICE is also exploring Circle’s USYC, a newer tokenized asset offering a 3.8% yield. USYC is backed by short-duration US Treasury securities and repo-related instruments. It originated from Hashnote, a crypto platform Circle acquired earlier this year.
Lynn Martin, president of the NYSE, expressed optimism about the growing role of regulated digital currencies in traditional finance. She noted that assets like USDC and USYC could provide efficient, trustworthy alternatives to conventional fiat in institutional markets.
Institutional interest in stablecoins rises
ICE’s move illustrates the growing interest from legacy financial institutions in stablecoins, especially as the regulatory landscape begins to take form.
On March 26, US lawmakers introduced a landmark stablecoin bill to formalize digital dollar issuance standards.
The proposed legislation requires stablecoin issuers to be approved as banks, licensed nonbanks, or state-regulated entities.
With monthly reporting and audits, these tokens must be backed one-to-one with cash or low-risk government assets. The regulation also bans algorithmic stablecoins for two years and restricts using foreign-issued tokens unless they meet US regulatory standards.
This regulatory clarity level appears to be attracting traditional financial institutions who have begun exploring the sector.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stressed this in a recent X post, saying:
“A new era begins: the stablecoin multiverse. Hundreds of companies and governments are launching (or will soon) their stablecoins.”
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