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Match is a two-sided market: burn-side participants destroy USDC and receive USD, while mint-side participants deposit USD and receive USDC. Each side funds its activity differently, carries a different fee direction, and follows a different exit path. Understanding how each side funds activity, particularly the restricted nature of mint-side balances, is essential before placing orders.

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Burn side

Burn-side participants hold USDC in their existing Circle Mint wallet. No separate funding step is required. When you place a burn-side order, Circle reserves the order amount from your Circle Mint wallet balance. The reserved amount is no longer available for new orders or withdrawals until the auction clears.
  • If the order fills: You pay the clearing fee (deducted from the filled amount in basis points), and receive USD settlement to your linked fiat account.
  • If the order is unfilled or cancelled: The reserved USDC is released back to your available balance.
Burn-side USDC is standard Circle Mint USDC. It is withdrawable to blockchain addresses at any time when not reserved by a resting order.

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Mint side

Mint-side participants fund their activity by wiring USD to their Match fiat account. This account is separate from the standard Circle Mint wallet. Once the inbound wire settles, Circle automatically converts the USD into Match-only USDC. This balance is segregated from your standard Circle Mint wallet and does not appear there.
After a USD wire settles, you hold Match-only USDC, not fiat. This balance is not fiat sitting idle. It is USDC, held in a restricted, Match-only construct. It cannot be sent to blockchain addresses and does not appear in your standard Circle Mint wallet.
  • If the order fills: You receive USDC in your standard Circle Mint wallet (not in the restricted balance) and earn the clearing fee as a rebate added to the received amount. Post-fill USDC in the standard Mint wallet is withdrawable normally.
  • If the order is unfilled or cancelled: The restricted USDC balance remains in the Match account until you submit a withdrawal request or place a new order.

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Exit path for restricted USDC

The only way to exit a restricted Match-only USDC balance is to submit a withdrawal request. Circle burns the restricted USDC and wires the equivalent USD to your linked fiat account. This withdrawal is fee-free: no standard Circle Mint burn fee applies. There is no blockchain exit for restricted USDC.

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Burn side vs. mint side comparison

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Balance fields

Your Match account summary exposes three balance fields for the mint-side restricted USDC:
  • total: your full Match USDC balance.
  • reserved: the portion held by open resting orders, not available for new orders.
  • available: total minus reserved (what you can use for new orders).
The account summary is a best-effort snapshot. Activity figures may lead settlement; for exact reconciliation, rely on order and settlement records rather than the summary alone.

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Order size constraints

All orders (burn side and mint side) must be a minimum of 100andamultipleof100 and a multiple of 100. This granularity is required for integer-cent fee arithmetic at basis-point precision during clearing.