Before Circle,
there was Bancor.
A 2014 write-up claims Circle was meant to launch under a different name — the one Keynes gave his world currency. Here is the case, piece by piece.
- Subject
- $BANCOR
- Network
- Arc (Circle's L1)
- Timeline
- 1941 — 2025
- Sources
- 8 archived exhibits
- Status
- Community memecoin
A forgotten article reveals the first name.
In early 2014, Ryan Selkis — who would later found Messari — profiled Circle's young team on Medium. Tucked inside the piece: the company was supposedly going to be called Bancor.
The name wasn't random. During World War II, John Maynard Keynes and E. F. Schumacher designed the “bancor”, a supranational unit of account for settling trade between nations.
Thirty years early, a date stamped on a coin.
In January 1988, The Economist ran a cover on the idea of a global currency. The artwork: a phoenix rising above a coin marked with the year 2018.
official USDC launch
Pure coincidence, of course. But 2018 is exactly when Circle shipped its digital dollar.
Six years later, the word comes back.
On episode 23 of The Money Movement, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire brings up the bancor while discussing the crypto dollar economy. The idea clearly never left the building.
Bancor comes home, on Arc.
Circle unveils Arc, its own Layer 1 where USDC is the native gas. The name set aside in 2014 finally finds its place: $BANCOR.
0x76e3625f45078fc48781aa82b75fde58f7aa9a9a
The source
vault.
8 exhibits — 1941 → 2025
The original bancor
The supranational currency designed by Keynes and Schumacher.
WikipediaThe receipt
The article naming Circle's originally planned brand.
MediumWho is TwoBitIdiot?
Ryan Selkis's handle — later the founder of Messari.
MediumCircle's mission
Global digital money, from day one.
CircleThe phoenix
The Economist cover imagining a future world currency.
Archive.orgThe coincidence
USDC's official launch day.
CircleThe echo
Jeremy Allaire mentions the bancor on Circle's podcast.
The Money MovementHomecoming
Arc, Circle's L1 with USDC as native gas.
Circle