Circle Welcomes DJ Khaled to 'Team USDC' and Crypto Twitter Is Furious

Circle, the issuer behind the USDC stablecoin, welcomed rapper DJ Khaled to “team USDC” in a post on X on Monday—and Crypto Twitter lost its collective mind. But it’s probably not what it seems. Here’s what happened, and what appears to have caused the drama: USDC's official X account >posted a photo of DJ Khaled wearing a Chelsea jersey with "USDC by Circle" across the chest, captioned "Another one," a nod to his signature catchphrase. About four hours later, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire >shared it with a note addressed to the rapper: "DJ Khaled welcome to team USDC." Nothing in either post announces a sponsorship, an ambassador role, or any money. It reads more like a cheeky nod. Circle is Chelsea's> official front-of-shirt sponsor, and Khaled turns up at the club through a separate door: Chelsea's> Roc Nation announcement in May involved DJ Khaled as a promotional stunt. But direct sponsorship or not, Crypto Twitter wasn’t having it, given DJ Khaled’s checkered history in crypto. @djkhaled welcome to team @USDC https://t.co/O5z2JR3jGn — Jeremy Allaire (@jerallaire) October 5, 2026 "Please don't work with scammers like this," Joseph Schiarizzi >posted on X. “You really want people who have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines to the SEC for illegally not disclosing payments they received for promoting ICOs representing your brand?” Schiarizzi was referring to the scandal involving the fraudulent Centra ICO. The founders behind Centra went to jail way back in 2020. DJ Khaled, among many other celebrities, promoted the token—and Khaled paid over $150,000 in fines to the SEC for not disclosing it was a paid deal. So, you could be forgiven for thinking DJ Khaled was being paid to promote USDC, and maybe not d