Circle USYC (USYC): What It Is, Uses and Risks

Circle USYC (USYC) is a tokenized share in a money market fund. The fund, called Hashnote International Short Duration Yield Fund Ltd., invests in short-term U.S. Treasury bills and carries out repo and reverse repo transactions. Each USYC token represents a claim on that pool of assets, so the token is meant to track the fund's net asset value and pay out the short-term interest rates those holdings earn.

USYC is not a stablecoin in the usual sense. A stablecoin such as USDC aims to hold a flat $1.00 and does not pass interest on to holders. USYC instead rises in value over time as the fund accrues yield. That is why the price in the data, about $1.14 as of 2026-11-05, sits above one dollar.

The product began under Hashnote. In January 2025, Circle announced it was acquiring Hashnote and the USYC product, and the token now carries Circle's name. Circle describes USYC as a tokenized money market fund that supports near-instant redemptions into USDC, around the clock, at scale. Access is generally tied to eligibility and onboarding checks rather than being open to anyone with a wallet.

The main purpose of USYC is to give holders a yield-bearing, dollar-linked asset that lives on a blockchain. Circle has said USYC is meant to serve as collateral in digital asset markets, offering a yield-bearing alternative to holding idle cash or stablecoins when posting margin or collateral.

Typical uses include:

• Treasury and cash management: institutions and crypto-native firms can park spare dollars in a Treasury-backed instrument and still move it quickly onchain.
• Collateral: because the token earns interest while it is pledged, it can be used where a trading venue or protocol accepts it as backing.
• Settlement and composability: a token form can plug into smart contracts and exchanges that traditional fund shares cannot reach.

USYC does not carry governance rights, and it is not a utility token for a particular network. Its value comes from the fund's underlying assets and the redemption mechanism, not from demand for blockspace or a protocol fee model.

USYC differs from most crypto assets in that its supply is tied to fund subscriptions and redemptions rather than a fixed schedule. There is no maximum supply listed. Tokens are created when eligible investors put money in and removed when they redeem.

As of 2026-11-05, the data shows about 1.96 billion tokens in circulation, equal to total supply, with a market capitalization of roughly $2.24 billion and a market cap rank of 44. Fully diluted value is the same as market cap, since no further tokens are scheduled to unlock. Circle has described USYC as the largest tokenized money market fund, though readers should treat that as a company claim.

There is no emissions schedule, team allocation or inflation model, because USYC is not a governance or reward token. The return comes from interest earned on Treasury bills and repo activity, reflected in a rising token price. The 24-hour trading volume was not available in the data. The price was up about 0.07% over seven days and about 3.5% over one year at the time of writing, which is the kind of slow drift expected from a short-duration yield fund.

USYC is issued on three chains according to the data: Ethereum, Solana and BNB Chain. It is not the native token of any chain, so you need the chain's own coin to pay network fees when moving it.

Holding or moving USYC works differently from buying a typical token on an open exchange. Because it represents a fund share, issuance and redemption go through an onboarding process with eligibility checks, and many holders are institutions or firms. Redemptions are designed to settle in USDC. Secondary trading may be available on certain venues, but liquidity can be thinner than for large stablecoins, and market prices may differ slightly from the fund's net asset value.

Some individuals may find it easier to reach exposure to tokenized Treasuries through other products, but eligibility rules and regional restrictions vary. Check the current terms of the issuer and any platform you use before assuming you can hold or redeem the token where you live.

USYC's story is mostly about the move of traditional finance products onto blockchains. The token started with Hashnote, a firm that built a tokenized short-duration yield fund. On January 21, 2025, Circle announced it would acquire Hashnote and USYC, bringing a yield-bearing asset in-house alongside its USDC stablecoin.

The data shows a recorded low of about $1.026 on 2024-12-05 and an all-time high of about $1.14 on 2026-11-04, only a day before the data date. That pattern is expected for a token that accrues interest: the price trends upward with the fund's net asset value and does not swing like a typical crypto asset. No launch date is given publicly available here, so it is best not to rely on one.

Circle has also said that tokenized assets are growing in capital markets and that USYC has become the largest tokenized money market fund. The broader tokenized Treasury category, which includes several issuers, has attracted attention from asset managers and crypto firms alike.

A steady price does not mean no risk. The main ones are:

• Underlying asset and counterparty risk: the fund holds Treasury bills and enters repo agreements. Treasuries are low risk, but repo trades depend on counterparties, and the fund structure adds operational and legal exposure.
• Redemption and access risk: redemption depends on the issuer, onboarding status and the liquidity of the process. Eligibility rules can change, and some users may not qualify.
• Regulatory risk: tokenized funds sit between securities law and crypto rules, and treatment differs by country.
• Smart contract and chain risk: the token runs on Ethereum, Solana and BNB Chain, so bugs, bridge issues or chain outages are possible.
• Secondary market risk: on-chain prices may drift from net asset value when liquidity is thin.
• Interest rate risk: returns follow short-term rates and will fall if rates fall.

This is a fund share, not an insured bank deposit. Nothing here is investment advice, and the page does not predict prices.

Because USYC lives on public chains, it can be held in any wallet that supports the relevant network and token, though transfers may be restricted to wallets that have been approved by the issuer. Confirm in advance that your wallet address is allowed before sending anything.

Some practical steps:

• Use a well-regarded wallet and keep the recovery phrase offline, never in photos, email or cloud notes.
• For larger amounts, consider a hardware wallet or institutional custody, which many holders of this token already use.
• Check the chain and contract before any transfer. Tokens sent on the wrong network may be lost.
• Keep some native coin such as ETH, SOL or BNB for fees.
• Be alert to phishing. Fake sites and approval requests are common around yield products. Only interact with official channels.
• Keep records of subscriptions, redemptions and balances for tax reporting.

If you hold USYC through a platform or custodian instead of your own wallet, you rely on that firm's security and solvency, so read its terms first.