Circle Match enables hourly auctions for USDC minting and redemption

Circle has launched a new way for big players to move between dollars and USDC. Once an hour, buyers and sellers meet in an auction instead of each dealing with Circle separately. The service, called Circle Match, went live on October 22, 2026. It runs hourly batch auctions that pair USDC mint orders with redemption orders. Minters whose orders get matched receive a rebate, and redeemers clear at or below Circle’s Express rate. How the hourly auction works Start with the basics. Minting means handing over US dollars and getting freshly created USDC. Redeeming is the reverse: you return USDC and receive dollars. The auctions run hourly. Orders are batched, then cleared at a single, uniform clearing fee expressed in basis points. A basis point is one hundredth of a percent, the unit traditional finance uses when pennies matter. The fee split is where it gets interesting. Matched mint orders receive a full rebate of that clearing fee. Redemption participants pay it, but their cost is capped by Circle’s Express rate. So minters can get paid for showing up, while redeemers get to name their price, with a guaranteed ceiling. Those selling USDC back to Circle will never pay more than they...