Circle Says Payments Network Won Bronze at Money20/20 Money Awards

Circle announced Monday, Oct. 19, that Circle Payments Network (CPN) had won bronze in the Payments category at the Money20/20 Money Awards, drawing attention to its cross-border payments service built around USDC settlement and local payouts.

At June 30, 2026, CPN had 175 enrolled financial institutions, 29% more than a quarter earlier. The count had grown from 55 institutions enrolled on Feb. 20, 2026. Circle’s October announcement described more than 175 financial institutions as helping make the network, while the June figure measured enrollment. The two descriptions refer to different aspects of CPN’s scale.

CPN’s annualized transaction volume reached $14.7 billion at June 30, up 76% from the previous quarter. Circle calculated the figure from activity during the quarter’s final 30 days and expressed that pace as a yearly rate. It is not the amount transferred during the entire second quarter. The volume figure measures recent payment activity; enrollment counts institutions.

CPN connects participating financial institutions for cross-border payments using USD Coin (USDC) settlement and local payout partners. The network links institutions across borders, with USDC serving as the settlement asset and local partners providing payout routes to recipients.

Circle launched CPN Managed Payments on April 8, 2026. The service lets participating firms work in fiat while Circle handles USDC minting and burning, payment orchestration and blockchain infrastructure.

Circle and Nium announced a partnership on May 27, 2026, giving CPN institutions access to Nium’s payout infrastructure, which spans more than 190 countries and 100 currencies. Those figures describe the infrastructure’s reach; they do not mean CPN payments have been completed in every covered market. The Nium arrangement adds payout coverage to CPN’s cross-border payment setup.

Together, the June enrollment and annualized-volume figures describe CPN’s participating base and recent transaction pace, while the Nium figures describe available payout reach. They measure separate parts of the network and should not be combined into a count of completed payments.