Circle stated in a blog post on August 5 that it would no longer accept USDC on the Flow blockchain because of the upcoming Crescendo upgrade. The U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin will keep being made on Flow until August 27, 2024, at 12 p.m. ET.
Circle said :
“Circle Mint customers, retail USDC holders, and non-Circle customers who hold USDC on Flow (Cadence) are highly encouraged to transfer from Flow to other blockchains ahead of the September 3, 2024 deadline,” .
The Crescendo update for Flow is set for September 4, 2024, at 5 AM PT. When the date comes up, Circle will freeze all USDC on Flow. When redemptions start by hand on September 4, 2024, a snapshot of user business and institutional customer accounts on the chain will help make this possible.
Circle Freezes USDC Balances
Circle’s blog post makes it clear that its main users are businesses and institutions. So, Flow has given advice to people who own USDC and customers who aren’t in the Circle but have funds on the blockchain.
“Before the Crescendo network upgrade on September 3, 2024, at 3 AM ET, Circle will stop supporting USDC on Cadence. This is because EVM-based ERC-20 USDC will become naturally compatible across the entire Flow ecosystem.” Team Flow said in their August 5 announcement that Circle and Flow would provide special tools and help to make sure the move went smoothly for all users.
In its update, Flow also said that within the next seven days, the team will add a new wrapped token to the network. This wrapped token will be backed by USDC linked on the Ethereum network. This will make it easy for people who own USDC on Flow’s Cadence release to trade them before the September 3 upgrade.
Before the Crescendo upgrade, users will be able to wrap and bridge assets in a number of ways. They can deposit to Dapper Wallet, swap tokens for Flow’s native token FLOW, or change to the soon-to-launch wrapped USDC. Users can also choose to wait until after September 3 to redeem their tokens manually.
