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Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) and Circle Internet Group have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore developing new products and solutions based on Circle's digital assets, the companies announced today.
The agreement will see ICE, which operates the New York Stock Exchange, investigate potential uses for Circle's USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin and its tokenized money market offering, US Yield Coin (USYC).
"ICE's reputation and global network across markets offer a unique pathway for Circle to integrate USDC into major new use cases, and we are thrilled for the opportunity to innovate together," said Jeremy Allaire, Co-Founder and CEO of Circle.
Lynn Martin, President of the New York Stock Exchange, said, "We believe Circle's stablecoins and tokenized digital currencies can play a larger role in capital markets as digital currencies become more trusted by market participants as an acceptable equivalent to the US Dollar. We are excited to explore the potential use cases for USDC and USYC across ICE's markets."
USDC is a fully reserved stablecoin designed to maintain a one-to-one equivalence with the US dollar. According to Circle, over $60 billion of USDC was in circulation as of 26 March 2025, with reserves backed by highly liquid cash and cash-equivalent assets.
The majority of the USDC reserve is invested in the Circle Reserve Fund (USDXX), an SEC-registered government money market fund. Launched in 2018, USDC is now accessible to approximately 600 million end-user wallet products, supporting various applications including crypto capital markets activities, dollar store of value, and payments.
Under the agreement, the companies plan to explore applications for Circle's stablecoins and other product offerings within ICE's derivatives exchanges, clearinghouses, data services, and other markets, with the aim of delivering innovation and building new markets based on Circle's products.
