Circle

2013-01-01

Circle Internet Group founded in Boston, Massachusetts.

2022-08-08

Circle freezes USDC held in Tornado Cash wallets following U.S. Treasury OFAC sanctions designation.

2023-03-10

Silicon Valley Bank seized by FDIC. Circle discloses $3.3 billion in USDC reserves held at SVB. USDC depegs, trading as low as $0.86.

2023-03-13

USDC fully restores $1 peg after FDIC makes all SVB depositors whole, securing Circle's $3.3 billion.

2024-01-11

Circle confidentially submits draft S-1 registration statement to the SEC.

2025-04-01

Circle publicly files S-1 with the SEC to list on NYSE under ticker CRCL.

2025-05-22

Cetus Protocol on Sui blockchain exploited for $223 million. Approximately $61 million bridged to Ethereum via USDC; Circle allegedly blacklists wallets one month later after funds converted to Ether.

2025-06-05

Circle IPO completes on NYSE at $31 per share.

2025-06-30

Circle submits application to OCC to form First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A.

2025-07-01

GENIUS Act signed into law, establishing the first U.S. federal statutory framework for payment stablecoins.

2025-12-12

Circle receives conditional OCC approval for national trust bank charter alongside Ripple, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Paxos.

2026-01-25

Swapnet exploit results in $16 million stolen, with $3 million USDC accessible for two days while freeze requests submitted by law enforcement and private investigators were allegedly denied by Circle.

2026-02-25

OCC publishes proposed GENIUS Act implementing rules covering reserve management, redemption protocols, and operational oversight for stablecoin issuers.

2026-03-23

Circle freezes USDC in 16 legitimate business wallets including DFINITY's ckETH Minter contract in connection with sealed NY civil case 26-cv-2327. ZachXBT calls it 'the most incompetent freeze' he has witnessed.

2026-03-26

Circle partially reverses the March 23 wallet freeze, unfreezing at least five of 16 wallets including DFINITY's ckETH Minter.

2026-04-01

Drift Protocol exploited for approximately $285 million. Attackers bridge $232 million USDC via Circle's CCTP over six hours during U.S. business hours. Circle takes no freeze action.

2026-04-02

ZachXBT publicly accuses Circle of being 'asleep' during the Drift hack and labels Circle, Jeremy Allaire, and USDC 'bad actors for the industry.'

2026-04-13

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire publicly states Circle will not freeze USDC without a court order or formal law enforcement directive.

2026-04-14

Class-action lawsuit filed against Circle in U.S. District Court of Massachusetts by Joshua McCollum on behalf of 100+ Drift hack victims, alleging negligence and aiding and abetting unlawful conversion of funds.

2026-04-16

Tether and Solana Foundation announce $150 million recovery plan for Drift Protocol hack victims. Drift Protocol subsequently transitions its core settlement layer from USDC to USDT.