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

In brief

Circle's USDC account shared a photo of DJ Khaled, welcoming him to "team USDC" in a cheeky post on X.

Crypto Twitter wasn't having it, and quickly replied with reminders of Khaled's history of crypto promotions gone wrong.

But Circle is Chelsea FC's front-of-shirt partner, and Khaled is featured in the club's separate Roc Nation deal announced in May. So it's probably not what it seems.

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."

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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 disclosing it again, and for publicly chastising Circle, a billion-dollar publicly listed company, for associating with the rapper. But that doesn’t appear to be what’s going on. Still, Crypto Twitter is big mad. After all, the internet never forgets.

Pseudonymous crypto sleuth Wazz Crypto went sarcastic, suggesting Circle sponsor Kim Kardashian next, because she's an "outspoken advocate" of stablecoins that "lines up perfectly" with the brand.

For those who don’t get the joke, the SEC ordered Kardashian to pay $1.26 million in penalties, disgorgement and interest in 2022 for promoting the EthereumMax token on Instagram without disclosing a $250,000 payment.