Circle mints $500M USDC on Solana as share nears 10%

Circle minted $500 million in USDC on the Solana network on April 29, an issuance flagged by onchain intelligence firm Arkham. The mint was part of a week in which Solana processed $3.25 billion in new USDC supply, moving the network closer to a 10% share of circulating USDC.

USDC was launched on Ethereum and the majority of its supply remains there, but Circle has increased native issuance on Solana through 2026. The recent activity reflects a higher cadence of mints on the network this year.

Circle issues USDC only after receiving equivalent dollars into its reserves. New mints therefore represent dollars converted into USDC that can be used onchain for trading, payments and institutional settlement on Solana.

Market observers attribute the rise in Solana issuance mainly to institutional and commercial buyers converting cash into USDC for onchain use.

Circle has expanded infrastructure to support those flows. The company introduced a cross-chain bridge that enables native 1:1 USDC transfers across EVM networks. In April it launched the CPN Managed Payments platform, which allows banks and payment service providers to settle in USDC without holding digital assets directly.

Regulatory changes have affected network choice. Decisions by the SEC and the CFTC classifying SOL as a digital commodity reduced some institutional hesitation about building on Solana, which has lowered barriers for firms to deploy dollar liquidity on the network.

Industry data show changing stablecoin activity in 2026. USDC’s adjusted transaction volume exceeded that of USDT this year. A major bank raised its price target on Circle earlier in 2026.

Ethereum continues to hold the largest share of USDC supply. Solana’s rising issuance this year has narrowed the gap and has brought the network closer to a 10% share of circulating USDC.