BNY Mellon Expands Digital Asset Custody to Include USDC

BNY has expanded its Digital Asset Custody platform to let institutional clients store, transfer, mint and redeem Circle's USD Coin, making it the first stablecoin supported on the platform.

The new capabilities allow BNY clients to convert US dollars into USDC and redeem the stablecoin back into dollars directly through the bank while also storing and transferring USDC on its custody platform. BNY said it plans to expand the service to additional stablecoins and digital cash workflows over time.

The expansion builds on BNY's existing role as the primary custodian of the assets backing USDC, extending its relationship with Circle beyond safeguarding reserve assets to include client-facing stablecoin services.

According to BNY, the custodian bank oversees $59.3 trillion in assets under custody and administration and serves more than 90% of Fortune 100 companies. USDC is the world's second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization, with more than $73.8 billion in circulation, according to DefiLlama data.

In May, BNY partnered with Abu Dhabi-based Finstreet and the ADI Foundation to develop institutional custody services for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), with plans to later support stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets.

Traditional finance expands stablecoin infrastructure

BNY's announcement is the latest in a series of stablecoin-focused products launched by major financial institutions in recent months, as traditional banks and asset managers expand services supporting reserve management, custody and blockchain-based payments.

In May, JPMorgan filed to launch a tokenized money market fund that would allow stablecoin issuers to hold reserve assets in a regulated investment vehicle while earning interest. The Ethereum-based fund is designed to invest in US Treasury bills and overnight repurchase agreements that back payment stablecoins.

Earlier this month, State Street launched a government money market fund for stablecoin issuers, offering a vehicle to hold reserve assets in compliance with the GENIUS Act. The fund invests in US government securities and repurchase agreements and counts State Street Bank and Anchorage Digital among its initial investors.

Other large financial institutions are pursuing stablecoin strategies as well. In July 2025, Bank of America said it was exploring stablecoins to modernize its payments infrastructure, while in January, Fidelity Investments launched a US dollar-backed stablecoin, FIDD, after receiving conditional approval to operate a national trust bank.

The stablecoin market is valued at approximately $313 billion, according to DefiLlama, with Tether's USDT accounting for about 60% of the market.