Circle, the USDC stablecoin issuer, is phasing out its consumer accounts as part of its strategic company revamp plans. The company notified its customers about this move through emails that were sent out on Tuesday, Oct. 31.

Moreover, through an email sent to CoinTelegraph, Circle confirmed the discontinuation of the individual consumer accounts. The company said the closures will take effect on Nov. 30.

Mint Accounts Unaffected by the Phase-Out

While Circle is getting rid of the consumer accounts, it stressed that business and Mint accounts will continue to be active. These features and services will remain available on its platform.

The company explained that the shutdown of the individual accounts is part of Circle’s “strategic review.” in the emails, customers were told it would stop support for the “wiring and minting functionalities” by the end of this month.

“Circle is phasing out support for legacy consumer accounts and has notified individual consumers of this decision,” the company stated. “Account closures do not apply to business or institutional Circle Mint accounts.”

Crypto Community’s Theories for the Move

According to Cryptopolitan, while Circle provided an explanation for its decision to get rid of the individual consumer accounts, some members of the crypto community are not convinced and have their own theories as to why it happened.

One of the theories came from Adam Cochran, who said that one possible reason for the sudden announcement is that Circle could be trying to cut down a network of individual accounts that are operating as Know Your Customer (KYC) mules or money-laundering intermediaries.

Another one suggested that Circle may be cutting costs or restructuring, so it decided to deactivate the said function. In any case, these are only speculations from the community, and they may have made these guesses based on their personal observations.

Photo by: Circle Press Room