Circle plans expansion into around 40 developing markets, CEO says

what happened

Stablecoin issuer Circle wants to operate in roughly 40 developing economies, chief executive and chairman Jeremy Allaire told Reuters on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank meetings in Bangkok, as reported by Cointelegraph. Allaire described the current period as a shift from early adoption of blockchain toward mainstream scale, pointing to rising demand for stablecoins in Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East.

Cointelegraph also cited analysts at Bernstein, who expect a new growth cycle for USDC, driven by a recovery in crypto markets, clearer US regulation, tokenized capital markets and payments, including early use by AI agents. USDC is still second to Tether's USDT by market value, but by adjusted transaction volume its share rose from about 40% in 2025 to over 60% in 2026, putting it ahead of USDT on that measure.

Separately, Circle agreed in September to buy Tazapay, a cross-border payments platform based in Singapore, in an all-stock transaction valued at $400 million, with closing expected in 2027.

why it matters

For markets, Circle's geographic push signals more competition in stablecoin distribution, and USDC's rising share of transaction volume is worth tracking against USDT. The Tazapay purchase shows the company moving into cross-border payments, not only token issuance. Sentiment in crypto markets affects the whole stablecoin segment, including demand for these tokens.

market impact

Stablecoins: wider reach and rising USDC volume add competition for USDT

tags

instruments