Circle vs Solstice

Circle4.7/5

VS

Solstice3.5/5

Feature	CircleVisit	SolsticeVisit
Ratings
Our score	4.7/5	3.5/5
User rating	No reviews yet	No reviews yet
Reserves & transparency	5.0	3.5
Peg stability	4.5	4.0
Regulation	5.0	3.0
Liquidity & chains	5.0	3.5
Redemption	4.0	3.0
Specs
Tickers	USDC, EURC	USX
Pegged to	US dollar	US dollar
Backing	Cash & treasuries	Mixed
Yield-bearing	No	Yes
Regulated issuer	Yes	Not disclosed
Licenses & charters	US BitLicense (NYDFS), US FinCEN MSB, France EMI (ACPR / MiCA), UK EMI (FCA), Singapore MPI (MAS), ADGM FSRA FSP, Bermuda Class F	MiCA-compliant framework
Supply / market cap	$72.9B as of October 2026	$201M
Chains	Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche, Base, Stellar	Solana
Reserve reports	Monthly reserve attestations by Deloitte & Touche, with daily CUSIP-level reporting of the Circle Reserve Fund via BlackRock.	Accountable Proof of Solvency
Redemption terms	1:1 par redemption with 0% fees via Circle Mint for verified institutional accounts; retail redemptions via secondary exchanges.	Direct minting and redemption for institutions from $500,000; secondary market liquidity via Solana DEX pools
Issuer can freeze tokens	Yes	Not disclosed
Company
Founded	2013	2023
Headquarters	United States	—
Investors	Not disclosed	Deus X Capital
Strengths and weaknesses
Pros	Reserves backed 1:1 by cash and short-dated Treasuries with daily CUSIP reporting Monthly reserve attestations published by Deloitte & Touche Direct institutional minting and redemption at 1:1 with zero fees via Circle Mint Holds regulatory licenses in the US, EU, UK, and Singapore	Overcollateralized backing verified via automated proof of solvency Three-year positive historical track record with a 6.81 Sharpe ratio Smart contracts audited three times by Halborn and Sep2 Tiered tranches offer senior and junior first-loss options with different target yields
Cons	Circle has onchain blacklist capabilities to freeze tokens on public addresses Direct fiat redemption requires corporate KYB onboarding through Circle Mint Depegged to $0.87 during the March 2023 Silicon Valley Bank failure Reserves carry counterparty exposure to partner banks holding cash deposits	Restricted to users outside the US, UK, Singapore, Hong Kong, and China Exposed to negative funding rate conditions across basis trading venues Junior strcUSXjr tranches bear first-loss credit default exposure Fee-free instant withdrawals require staking the protocol token SLX
Best for	Institutional cross-border payment settlement, DeFi liquidity providers and traders, European entities needing MiCA compliance	Solana DeFi yield seekers, Institutions allocating into tokenized credit, DeFi liquidity providers on Solana

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