Safe partners with Circle to establish USDC as the stablecoin standard across the Safe ecosystem
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ZUG, Switzerland, Oct. 14, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Safe, the leading multisig based smart account platform securing $60 billion in digital assets, and Circle Internet Group, Inc. (NYSE:CRCL)1, a global financial technology company and stablecoin market leader, today announced a strategic partnership to establish Safe as a premier institutional storage solution for USDC in self-custody and DeFi. Together, they are building trusted rails for the next generation of onchain capital markets and formalizing Safe's role as a leading institutional standard for secure USDC treasury management.
$2.5 billion USDC is currently held in Safe smart accounts. This significant usage demonstrates the market's trust in Safe's battle-tested security and validates the natural alignment between Circle's regulated2 stablecoin and Safe's enterprise-grade infrastructure.
"As institutions increasingly move onchain, they need trusted, scalable infrastructure to manage capital with confidence. Safe has already proven itself as an important platform for USDC adoption at scale, and this partnership underscores the growing demand for regulated, secure digital dollars in institutional treasury management and DeFi. By combining USDC, which has helped deliver over $40T in onchain transactions3, with Safe's smart account technology, we're equipping organizations with the tools they need to operate seamlessly in the next generation of capital markets." said Kash Razzaghi, Chief Commercial Officer, Circle.
The partnership will focus on delivering an enhanced experience for institutional USDC holders from initial onboarding to advanced treasury management, by positioning USDC at the core of the Safe ecosystem. Safe's programmable multi-signature technology, which already powers nearly 4% of all Ethereum transactions, provides the institutional-grade security required for large-scale treasury operations while maintaining direct access to DeFi's deepest liquidity pools, where USDC is a dominant asset. Together, Circle and Safe will deepen product integrations and streamline workflows to empower established and emerging institutions including DAOs, crypto-native funds, and Fortune 500 companies exploring crypto, with the self-custodial infrastructure they need to operate efficiently and confidently onchain.
"Institutional money is flowing into self-custody infrastructure and DeFi, and institutions need secure, scalable tools to keep up," said Lukas Schor, Co-founder of Safe and President of the Safe Ecosystem Foundation. "Together with Circle, we're positioning USDC as a core pillar of the Safe ecosystem, so that Safe becomes a home for institutional stablecoin DeFi."
With this partnership, Circle and Safe are reinforcing the need for secure, programmable, and institution-ready self-custody. This announcement follows a period of record-breaking growth for Safe as Safe hit transaction volumes of $1 Trillion. In Q1 2025 alone, total volume processed (TVP) across Safe smart accounts reached an all-time high of $189.6 billion—up 65% quarter-over-quarter—driven by increased activity on Ethereum, Base, and Arbitrum. Safe smart accounts also hit a new milestone of 116.7 million transactions during the quarter, with over $26.2 billion in DEX volume, marking a 442% surge.
These metrics reinforce Safe's growing role as the core infrastructure for onchain capital coordination. To meet rising institutional demand, Safe recently launched Safe Labs, a dedicated initiative focused on building enterprise-grade self-custody infrastructure, further solidifying Safe's leadership at the intersection of security, composability, and institutional adoption.
About Safe
Safe (previously Gnosis Safe) is an onchain asset custody protocol, securing ~$60 Billion in assets today. Released as on open-source software stack by the Safe Ecosystem Foundation, it is establishing a universal ‘smart account standard for secure custody of digital assets, data, and identity. Safe is built for the mission to unlock digital ownership for everyone in web3, including DAOs, enterprises, retail, and institutional users
Website, Twitter, Discord, Blog, GitHub, Docs
About the Safe Ecosystem Foundation, Zug, Switzerland
The mission of the Safe Ecosystem Foundation is to support the development of Safe, to strengthen Safe technology and to promote the Safe Ecosystem. The Safe Ecosystem is a non-profit organisation based in Zug, Switzerland, that helps educate people about Safe smart accounts and promotes Safe technology through the provision of grants and other forms of funding.
1 The agreement is entered into with a subsidiary of Circle Internet Group, Inc.
2 USDC is issued by regulated affiliates of Circle. A list of Circle's regulatory authorizations can be found here
3 USDC lifetime onchain transaction volume as of Sep 13, 2025 8:00 PM.
Legal Disclaimer
This is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase any SAFE tokens and is not an offering, advertisement, solicitation, confirmation, statement, or any financial promotion that can be construed as an invitation or inducement to engage in any investment activity or similar.
The Safe Ecosystem Foundation makes no representations, warranties and/or covenants with respect to the Safe Technology (or any implementations of the Safe{Wallet} and/or Safe Smart Accounts) or any program (Grants, Hackathons and/or any other forms of funding) run by the Safe Ecosystem Foundation. You should not rely on the content herein for advice of any kind, including legal, investment, financial, tax, or other professional advice, and such content is not a substitute for advice from a qualified professional.
About Circle Internet Group, Inc.
Circle (NYSE:CRCL) is a global financial technology firm that enables businesses of all sizes to harness the power of digital currencies and public blockchains for payments, commerce, and financial applications worldwide. Circle is building the world's largest, most-widely used, stablecoin network, and issues, through its regulated affiliates, USDC and EURC stablecoins. Circle provides a comprehensive suite of financial and technology services that empower enterprises and developers to integrate stablecoins and blockchains into their products, services and business operations. For more information visit www.circle.com.
Safe Foundation
Samuel A
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Circle team
Zara G
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