Circuit and DaLand Give Credit Unions a Direct Route to Bitcoin

Bitcoin Magazine says DaLand CUSO and Circuit, an 80-member credit union collaborative, have moved Circuit’s Digital Asset Initiative into implementation. The program gives participating institutions access to DaLand’s CODE Engine and Coin2Core technology, which plug digital asset functions directly into core banking systems from Corelation KeyStone, Fiserv DNA and Jack Henry Symitar. DaLand describes the setup as a Hybrid Custody model. Credit unions keep custody, member relationships and data instead of sending customers to third-party crypto platforms. Three credit unions are already live on the platform: St. Cloud Financial Credit Union, which issued its own stablecoin, $CLDUSD; Canvas Credit Union, a $5 billion institution that became a DaLand owner after deployment; and Blaze Credit Union, which also invested as an owner. DaLand says its production footprint now covers credit unions representing more than $10 billion in combined assets. The announcement comes as the GENIUS Act and other federal digital-asset legislation push financial institutions to formalize their crypto strategies. Executives framed the rollout as a shift from studying digital assets to actually deploying them. Canvas CIO David Pierce said, “We weren’t looking for another concept to study,” adding that the credit union wanted infrastructure it could own rather than rent. Blaze’s Justin Burleson, a former NCUA official, said the institution wanted digital asset activity to remain visible to examiners, boards and members rather than sit with an outside vendor. Circuit said it spent the past year building educational programming around digital assets, and that Phase 2 marks a move toward hands-on evaluation. Circuit Chief Strategy Officer Ethan Cunningham said, “Innovation moves faster when credit unions share what they’re learning.” Credit unions interested in joining can contact either organization directly. This article first appeared in Bitcoin Magazine and was written by Mathew Di Salvo.