Circle calls for Fed backing for USDC; picks France for European HQ

finextra.com:

While the money in SVB and the dollar peg were recovered, USDC's market cap took a hit and Circle is now reiterating its call for regulation that would make it a full reserve federally supervised institution.At a conference held at Warwick Business School, Circle’s Tarleton Watkins said that one long term option for retail stablecoins could involve a wholesale CBDC at the Fed as a backing instrument, but in the meantime holding dollar reserves with the Fed rather than various financial partners would be a logical step in light of SVB’s failure.Watkins told his audience: "In some ways, the events surrounding SVB act as a vindication of what we have been advocating for and that is a full Fed reserve model, where we could have access to risk-free cash."Although it is rare to have cascading bank failures, like in the financial crisis of 2008, this event with SVB put Circle through a very serious stress test, and we have come through it."Meanwhile, Circle has filed applications in France to become both a licensed Electronic Money Institution and a registered Digital Asset Service Provider. The move comes as Circle looks to expand its operations in Europe and push its EUROC stablecoin.Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF).