Progress on USDC On-Chain Settlement Expansion and Integration with Xiaomi Wallet

TL;DR

USDC achieved significant settlement expansion in December 2025: Hyperliquid enabled direct transfers between HyperCore and HyperEVM on December 8th, Solana minted $500 million worth of USDC in a single day, and the privacy stablecoin USDCx is mainnet in January 2026. On-chain data shows that the total supply of USDC reached $75.37 billion (a year-on-year increase of 78%), and monthly transaction volume exceeded $1 trillion. However, the integration with Xiaomi wallet has not accelerated—Sei Network's cooperation plan announced on December 10th still maintains the original timeline of Q2 2026 in Hong Kong and the EU, with no indication of being brought forward.

Key Analysis: USDC Settlement Capacity Expansion

Cross-chain infrastructure upgrade

Hyperliquid native integration

• On September 16, 2025, native USDC and CCTP V2 were launched on HyperEVM, supporting cross-chain deposits across 14+ blockchains .
• On December 8, 2025, a direct USDC connection between HyperCore and HyperEVM will be completed, enabling one-click CCTP deposits for spot/perpetual contracts. The Arbitrum bridging will be deprecated. (coinglass)
• USDC supply on HyperEVM: $41.46 million (as of November 27). defillama

Solana high-throughput settlement

• USDC supply: $9 billion (as of November 27), making it the second largest USDC deployment chain. defillama
• On December 8, 2025, Circle completed two USDC minting transactions, each worth $250 million, on Solana, bringing the total USDC minted since October 11 to $15.03 billion. (whale-alert)
• Technical Performance: Stress testing on August 18, 2025, achieved 107,664 TPS, providing throughput support for retail-grade high-frequency settlement. (solana)

Aleo Privacy Payment Plan

• USDCx (a privacy-focused stablecoin based on Circle xReserve) was launched on the Aleo testnet on December 9, 2025, with the mainnet planned for launch in January 2026. aleo
• Technical features: Enables programmable privacy transactions through zero-knowledge proofs while maintaining compliance and auditability, supporting scenarios such as private payroll payments, cross-border remittances, and DeFi .
• xReserve protocol: Non-custodial smart contracts implement deposit minting authentication, interoperating with USDC via CCTP/Gateway without the need for third-party bridging .

Institutional cooperation and liquidity expansion

Bybit Strategic Cooperation

• On December 8, 2025, Circle and Bybit entered into a strategic partnership to enhance the liquidity of USDC in the spot/derivatives markets and strengthen fiat currency exchange channels, savings products, and cashback services.
• Bybit joined the Circle Arc testnet (launching in October 2025) and launched USDC deposit and withdrawal functionality on the XDC Network on December 9th, offering zero fees and a $200,000 deposit bonus until January 9th.
• USDC supply on XDC Network: $29.65 million (as of November 27).

Regulatory and Infrastructure Milestones

• On December 9, 2025, Circle obtained a financial services license from Abu Dhabi Global Markets (ADGM) in the United Arab Emirates, laying the foundation for its operations in the Middle East.
• On August 26, 2025, Mastercard expanded its USDC settlement service to acquiring institutions in the EMEA region, marking the first time regional stablecoin settlement was achieved.

On-chain data verification

Supply and TVL growth

• Supply is estimated at $42-45 billion in November 2024, with a year-on-year growth of 78% in 2025.
• During November and December, global casting volume was approximately US$10-12 billion, while destruction volume was approximately US$7-9 billion, resulting in a net increase of US$3-5 billion.

Transaction activity and user scale

• In November 2025, on-chain and exchange transaction volume reached $465 billion, with a daily average of $15.5 billion and a peak of $31.21 billion on November 4.
• The cumulative trading volume during November and December is estimated at $900-1000 billion, continuing the benchmark of $1 trillion per month at the end of 2024.
• The average daily active addresses are approximately 1-2 million (November 2025), representing a 40-50% increase compared to 700,000-1 million in the same period of 2024.
• Ethereum handles approximately 500,000 to 600,000 addresses daily, Solana handles approximately 400,000, and Base handles approximately 200,000.

Comparison and capacity assessment

• Transaction volume : Approximately $300-350 billion in November 2024, with a growth of 35-40% in 2025.
• Casting event : Net issuance of $2-3 billion in November 2024, with a growth of 50-100% in 2025. Solana single-chain casting doubled from $3-4 billion in 2024 to $8 billion.
• Chain deployment : 9+ new chains were added in 2025 (including Starknet and Monad), a significant expansion compared to 5-7 chains in 2024; as of November 2025, USDC natively supports 29 chains.

Current status of Xiaomi Wallet integration

Cooperation Plan and Timeline

Sei Network Cooperation Agreement

• On December 10, 2025, Sei Network announced a partnership with Xiaomi to pre-install a next-generation crypto wallet and discovery app on new Xiaomi smartphones sold outside of mainland China and the United States .
• The application focuses on stablecoin payments, including Sei native USDC, supporting peer-to-peer transfers, dApp access, and consumer-to-merchant transactions. (cryptomist)

Deployment timeline (no signs of acceleration)

• New devices pre-installed with wallets will be available starting in 2026 , targeting regions including Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Africa.(blockchain.news )
• Xiaomi's ecosystem and 20,000+ retail stores will launch stablecoin payments (including USDC) in the first phase in Hong Kong and the EU markets in Q2 2026. (bitget )
• Key clarification : As of December 11, 2025, all official statements maintain the Q2 2026 timeline, and there are no announcements of acceleration or early implementation .

Technical Implementation Solution

• Security Mechanism: Employs Multi-Party Computation (MPC) technology, supporting seamless registration via Google or Xiaomi accounts.
• Underlying blockchain: Based on Sei (EVM-compatible L1 chain, sub-400ms finality, high TPS design for payment scenarios). cryptonomist
• Supported chains: Primarily the Sei chain; no multi-chain support has been announced yet; USDC is the native stablecoin of Sei.
• Ecosystem Incentives: Sei and Xiaomi establish a $5 million global mobile innovation program to support the development of mobile blockchain applications.(blockchain.news)

Cooperation Background and Limitations

Existing integrated state

• As of December 11, 2025, Xiaomi does not have a native USDC wallet integration ; only third-party applications (such as IronWallet, which supports multi-chain USDC) can be downloaded from the Xiaomi app store, but they are not pre-installed.
• Historical context: Circle previously invested in Xiaomi through IDG Capital (before 2025), but this has no direct connection to the current wallet partnership.

Partner Positioning

• Direct partners: Sei Network and Xiaomi; no statement regarding direct partnership with Circle-Xiaomi .
• USDC's role: As an on-chain stablecoin integrated into wallet payment functionality, Circle is the issuer but not the leading integrator.

Deposits and Retail Applications

• The plan supports fiat-stablecoin exchange at Xiaomi retail stores (using USDC to purchase smartphones, electric vehicles, etc.), hinting at deposit and withdrawal functionality, but specific service providers or technical details have not been disclosed.
• Currently, the Xiaomi ecosystem does not support deposits or withdrawals or direct USDC support . This feature will be introduced when the wallet is launched in 2026.

in conclusion

Significant progress has been made in settlement capacity expansion : Through native integration with Hyperliquid, large-scale minting with Solana, the Aleo privacy solution, and collaboration with Bybit, USDC achieved a comprehensive expansion of its settlement capacity in December 2025. On-chain data corroborates this, with its supply increasing by 78% year-on-year to $75.37 billion, monthly transaction volume exceeding $1 trillion, active addresses growing by 40-50%, and nine new chains deployed. Technologies such as CCTP V2 and xReserve reduce cross-chain risks, while high-throughput chains (Hyperliquid 107,664 TPS, Solana) enable low-cost and rapid settlement, establishing USDC's leading position as a global stablecoin infrastructure.

Xiaomi Integration Shows No Acceleration : Despite the title suggesting "accelerated rollout," actual data shows the Sei-Xiaomi collaboration strictly adheres to the original timeline of Q2 2026, with no announcements of advance or acceleration. Pre-installed wallet devices will begin shipping in 2026, and the initial deployment of stablecoin payments in Hong Kong and the EU is also locked in Q2 2026. This collaboration focuses on the Sei blockchain ecosystem rather than Circle's direct leadership. USDC, as Sei's native stablecoin, is incorporated into the payment function, but the current Xiaomi system does not natively support USDC. The technical solution employs the MPC security mechanism and Sei's high-performance L1 cache, with a $5 million innovation fund supporting ecosystem development, but the speed of rollout remains to be seen until 2026.