Circle’s USDC stablecoin and the Solana network are being tipped to gain the biggest boosts from the stablecoin minting and redemption service that the Singapore Gulf Bank (SGB) launched today, April 17, which it announced is directed at corporate and high-net-worth clients.
The stablecoin service is the latest crypto offering by the crypto-native bank, which positions itself as the bridge between digital and traditional finance. The bank operating in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) already processes over $2 billion in fiat transactions each month, according to its own disclosures.
What is Singapore Gulf Bank’s new stablecoin program?
Singapore Gulf Bank’s new service is supposed to allow corporate clients and ultra-wealthy customers to seamlessly switch between fiat dollars and USD stablecoin tokens, such as Circle’s USDC, Tether’s USDT, Etherena’s USDe, USDG, and others yet to be named.
SGB’s CEO Shawn Chan talked up the new service that enables instant, round-the-clock conversion between fiat and stablecoins, saying, “By integrating stablecoin mint and redemption directly into the banking environment, we enable real-time movement between fiat and digital assets, improving cash flow, payments, and treasury management. We are building the bank for a borderless world, where businesses and individuals operate across jurisdictions.”
As of the launch date today, SGB set the minimum threshold on transactions at $100,000, with transactions already open on USDC. The other tokens named in the announcement are expected to follow later on.
According to the bank, the service is already available on Ethereum, Solana, Base, Arbitrum, and Avalanche. However, it specifically named Solana as an entirely fee-free venue for customers, crediting the network’s speed and cost-efficiency as reasons.
SGB customers trading USDC on Solana to get preferential treatment
The announcement by the SGB is expected to lead to more growth in terms of activity and the market cap of Circle’s USDC stablecoin and the Solana network, where $8.12 billion worth of tokens are already in circulation.
According to the press release, eligible customers will be able to mint and redeem their USDC stablecoins (above $100,000) immediately, with extra zero-fee perks for transactions on the Solana network as well as other rewards that will be calculated based on the amount of dollar stablecoins they transacted during the promotion period.
With support for other stablecoins expected to follow at a later, unannounced date, this means that customers trading the USDC stablecoin will gain a head start on accumulating rewards, with the additional perk of not paying any bank or network fees if they are using the Solana network.
What does the service mean for stablecoins?
While the SGB announcement is expected to have broader positive effects for the broader $321 billion stablecoin sector, it has an immediate impact on the almost $70 bilion in USDC already in circulation on the five networks named in the blog and especially the $8.12 billion of that lot that is native to the Solana network.
Earlier this month, SGB announced that it consolidated its US dollar clearing capabilities by joining the correspondent banking network of Bank of New York (NYSE: BK).
Notably, not all stablecoins will be in play, because even though participation by the institutional-grade clients that SGB is targeting is near all-time highs. Retail users below the high-net-worth cutoff still retain significant influence across different sectors of the market.
As noted in Coingecko’s Q1 2026 report, Solana dominated other networks in terms of DEX spot trading volume, which is mostly led by small-time traders fondly referred to as the “trenches,” and they settled most of those transactions in USDC, which holds a 51.7% stranglehold on the stablecoins on the network.
