Circle Mints More USDC on Solana as Supply Nears $7B

Circle has continued minting large batches of USDC on Solana, adding to a year of unusually high treasury activity on the network. Whale Alert recorded another 250 million USDC mint on November 6, following several similarly sized transactions earlier that week. The mints expand Circle’s available USDC inventory on Solana, but they do not prove that an equivalent amount immediately entered active circulation.

That distinction is built into Circle’s own architecture. Circle explains that Solana uses pre-mint addresses where newly created USDC can remain outside circulating supply until the issuer authorizes distribution. A treasury mint therefore measures token creation, while net circulating supply depends on later issuance, redemptions and movements back into Circle-controlled inventory.

Solana USDC Supply Holds Near $7B

DeFiLlama recorded approximately $14.79 billion in stablecoins on Solana as of November 9, making it the third-largest blockchain by stablecoin supply behind Ethereum and TRON. USDC accounted for roughly $6.99 billion, or 47.2% of that total. USDC supply on Solana was up about 1.4% over seven days even as the network’s overall stablecoin market declined by roughly 2.5%.

The latest activity follows substantial gross minting throughout 2026. Onchain monitoring cited in late October calculated approximately 112.01 billion USDC minted on Solana between January 1 and October 26 across 448 transactions. That $112 billion figure represents cumulative gross mints, not $112 billion of net USDC growth, because the same stablecoin inventory can be issued, redeemed and replenished repeatedly.

The distinction has appeared throughout Circle’s recent Solana activity. Earlier this year, Circle generated $3 billion of USDC in roughly 24 hours, while another period produced 750 million USDC across three large treasury mints. In both cases, the economically relevant question was how much inventory ultimately left Circle-controlled addresses and entered circulation.

Payments Give USDC a Separate Usage Signal

Solana’s broader stablecoin activity provides stronger evidence of actual usage than mint transactions alone. The Solana Foundation says the network has processed more than $5.25 trillion in stablecoin transfer volume during 2026. Transfer volume measures value moved across the network rather than new issuance, but it demonstrates that Solana’s stablecoin infrastructure is being used for settlement at substantial scale.

USDC distribution has also expanded into consumer payment infrastructure. Samsung announced support for Solana-based USDC inside Samsung Wallet across 82 million compatible U.S. Galaxy devices, with eligible users able to send USDC and transfer funds to qualifying bank accounts in more than 60 countries. Institutional settlement was already developing through initiatives such as Visa’s USDC settlement service for U.S. banks. Those integrations identify concrete distribution and settlement channels that cannot be inferred from treasury mints alone.

Wallet distribution has expanded as well. Solana Compass currently tracks more than 10 million addresses holding USDC, up from roughly 8.1 million in August. Holder addresses should not be equated with individual users, since one person or organization can control multiple wallets and custodial addresses can represent many customers.

Circle’s ongoing Solana mints therefore show sustained issuance capacity rather than a direct measurement of incoming capital. The same distinction underpins Circle’s broader mint-and-burn supply mechanics. The stronger current signal is that Solana holds nearly $7 billion of circulating USDC while payment, settlement and wallet integrations continue expanding around that supply.