The August 2021 change seems to be in response to a disclosure, that revealed more about USDC, than had been known in the past. This is a move toward more transarency and accuracy, not in USDC becoming less backed.

And CoinGeek is a notoriously anti-decentralization media outlet. It's a mouthpiece for BSV, whose founder, Craig Wright, has called for anonymity to be abolished in cryptocurrencies, and for miners who process decentralized exchange transactions to be jailed.

Did you just call a SEC subpoena FUD?

There is no indication that this is due to some recent misbehavior by USDC's issuer, as opposed to an independent decision by the SEC to subject stablecoins in general to its control.