Citizens Trust Bank in Atlanta will hold about $65 million of USD Coin (USDC) cash reserves for Circle Internet Financial in Boston.
Circle, a digital fintech firm that issues USDC, said the agreement is part of a broader effort to allocate a share of USDC dollar-denominated reserves to minority depository institutions (MDIs) and community banks.
“For the future of finance and banking to be more inclusive than the past, historically marginalized communities cannot merely be beneficiaries of financial services, they must also be protagonists,” Dante Disparte, Circle’s chief strategy officer and head of global policy for, said in the release.
The $812 billion-asset Citizens Trust “is a phenomenal leader in this space,” Disparte added. “We are anxious to support their strategic drive to $1billion [of] deposits and help drive financial inclusion and digital financial literacy in Atlanta.”
Circle and Citizens Trust also plan to work on financial inclusion and digital financial literacy initiatives for customers.
“The opportunity to maintain a portion of Circle’s growing USDC reserves means we are strengthening our balance sheet and becoming a key part of fast-growing new markets,” unities,” said Cynthia Day, Citizens Trust’s president and CEO, said in the release.
“This will support our commitment to providing access to capital for small businesses, improve the financial ecosystem through financial inclusion, build wealth and pave the way for stronger communities,” Day added.