Circle Eyes Expansion Into About 40 Developing Markets, CEO Jeremy Allaire Says
Key Takeaways
- •Circle CEO and Chairman Jeremy Allaire said the company is preparing to enter roughly 40 developing markets, citing rising stablecoin demand in Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East.
- •Allaire described the stablecoin industry as reaching an inflection point, shifting from early blockchain adoption into a mainstream scaling phase.
- •Bernstein analysts forecast a new growth cycle for USDC over the next 12 months, driven by crypto market momentum, US regulatory clarity, tokenized capital markets, payments adoption and early use of stablecoins by AI agents.
- •USDC's share of adjusted stablecoin transaction volume reportedly rose from about 40% in 2025 to more than 60% in 2026, surpassing Tether's USDt, even though its market capitalization of roughly $72.5 billion remains well below USDt's approximately $183.4 billion.
- •Circle agreed to acquire Singapore-based cross-border payments platform Tazapay in a $400 million all-stock deal expected to close in 2027, while its NYSE-listed shares closed down 5.5% on Friday at $82.22, extending a nearly 24% six-month decline.
Stablecoin issuer Circle is preparing to enter roughly 40 developing markets, according to the company's CEO and chairman, Jeremy Allaire.
Speaking to Reuters on Friday on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in Bangkok, Allaire said the stablecoin industry has reached a turning point. "We're kind of going through an inflection point... a transition right now, and that transition is essentially moving from the early adopter phase of blockchain technology into the mainstream scaling phase," he said.
Markets across Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East are seeing rising stablecoin demand as businesses and individuals seek to enter the internet-based economic system, Allaire said. Stablecoins such as Circle's USDC and Tether's USDt are blockchain tokens designed to track the value of the US dollar, which is why their adoption in these regions centers on dollar access and payments.
The comments follow an Aug. 24 Cointelegraph report that analysts at Bernstein were bullish on Circle (CRCL), forecasting that a new growth cycle for its USDC stablecoin could deliver a significant boost to the company over the next 12 months. Bernstein identified several potential drivers of the next stablecoin growth phase, including renewed momentum in crypto markets, greater US regulatory clarity, tokenized capital markets and growing adoption of stablecoins for payments. The analysts also pointed to early signs of stablecoin use in payments made by AI agents.
Although USDC remains the second-largest dollar-backed stablecoin by market capitalization — well behind Tether's USDt (USDT) — it has gained considerable ground in transaction activity. Bernstein said USDC's share of adjusted stablecoin transaction volume rose from about 40% in 2025 to more than 60% so far in 2026, overtaking USDt by that measure.
USDC's market capitalization stood at roughly $72.5 billion late Friday, according to CoinMarketCap data, while USDT's was about $183.4 billion. Circle's NYSE-traded CRCL stock closed down 5.5% on Friday at $82.22, extending a nearly 24% decline over the past six months.
On Sept. 8, Cointelegraph reported that Circle had agreed to acquire Tazapay, a Singapore-based cross-border payments platform, in a $400 million all-stock deal expected to close in 2027. The pending deal would add cross-border payments capability to Circle's toolkit just as the company lays out plans for those developing markets, giving the expansion strategy a concrete milestone to watch as the transaction moves toward completion.
Source: Cointelegraph
