Circle Taps Deloitte as New Auditor, Doubles Down on Proof of Reserves 

Circle, who for years partnered with firm Grant Thornton for its audits, makes the switch to Deloitte as various accounting firms express concern over working with crypto companies

article-image

Jeremy Allaire Circle CEO (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0); Source: World Economic Forum / Faruk Pinjo, modified by Blockworks

share

Circle, the company behind the USDC stablecoin, released its “state of the USDC economy” report, in which it emphasized the importance of dollar-backed cryptos and attempted to ease worries about the state of its reserves. 

“Our history of pioneering transparency underscores our commitment to providing USDC holders and the general public with open, timely reporting on how we minimize risk and maintain liquidity in the USDC reserve,” Circle said in the report, released Tuesday. 

Circle said it will now partner with Deloitte, Coinbase’s accounting firm of choice, for audits on its proof of reserves. A Binance spokesperson told Blockworks in December they were under the impression the “Big Four” accounting firms — known to be Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers — were “currently unwilling” to conduct a proof-of-reserves audit for a private crypto company. 

Circle, while currently privately held, was considering entry into the public market through a special purpose acquisition partnership (SPAC) with Concord before abandoning its plans last month in the wake of the FTX collapse. 

“We are disappointed the proposed transaction timed out, however, becoming a public company remains part of Circle’s core strategy to enhance trust and transparency, which has never been more important,” Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said in a statement at the time of the announcement.

Circle, who for years partnered with firm Grant Thornton for its audits, makes the switch as various accounting firms have exercised caution over audits of crypto companies. 

Mazars Group and Armanino reportedly dropped their crypto clients last month. Mazars, which handled proof-of-reserves audits for exchanges KuCoin, Binance and Crypto.com, elected to stop providing the services because of “concerns regarding the way these reports are understood by the public,” according to reports

Regulating USDC Reserves

Circle’s report comes as the industry continues to wait for more regulatory guidance from Congress, which will likely come to the stablecoin sector first, experts said. 

“The first Congressional focus point will no doubt be stablecoins,” Katherine Dowling, general counsel and CCO at Bitwise Asset Management, told Blockworks last week. 

Stablecoin regulation, namely about reserve reporting and liquidity requirements, has been a long time coming, Dowling said, pointing to the bipartisan bill lawmakers failed to pass last session. With much of the legwork already done, Dowling said stablecoin legislation has the potential to be an early win for Congressional members looking to solidify some sort of crypto policy.

“Regardless of where members of congress are on the crypto spectrum — pro or con — or on the learning curve, there is a general sense that something must be done here,” Dowling said. 

Allaire agreed, noting in the report that Circle is prepared on a regulatory front and is watching developments closely. 

“Policymakers globally are sharpening their focus, ushering in much-needed regulation for how trusted digital currencies can be supervised — in a consistent and harmonized manner — by banking and payments regulators,” Allaire wrote.


Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.

Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

recent research

Research Report Templates.png

Research

An overview of the Base Ecosystem, with a focus on market leaders.

article-image

Although bitcoin hitting $120k by year’s end is looking unlikely

article-image

About 270 million HYPE has been claimed, valued around $7.6 billion

article-image

Stanford professors David Mazières and Dan Boneh will lead the lab alongside a cohort of graduate student researchers

article-image

With more companies holding BTC, bitcoin yielding strategies could become “a new corporate finance norm,” CoinShares posed

article-image

The proposal comes after Polygon governance considered a controversial use of bridged liquidity for yield

article-image

Can the community balance its decentralized ethos with the need for inclusivity and constructive debate?