BlackRock promises not to develop competitive payment stablecoins in its partnership with Circle

According to the listing report submitted by Circle in early April, Circle and BlackRock agreed in a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in March 2025 to prioritize the transfer of Circle's stablecoin and other product reserves to BlackRock. Circle has committed to storing at least 90% of its US managed USDC fiat currency reserves (excluding bank deposits) in BlackRock managed products, unless otherwise required by law, regulation, or operational requirements. In addition, BlackRock agrees to prioritize and use USDC and all Circle stablecoins in all use cases related to USD payment stablecoins, and promises not to develop or launch competitive payment stablecoins, provided that Circle continues to fulfill its reserve management payment obligations. The validity period of the new memorandum of understanding is four years.