Circle CEO: 70% of USDC adoption comes from outside the US

Major stablecoin issuers Tether and Circle are focusing on non-U.S. markets where adoption is growing.

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire estimates as much as 70% of USD Coin (USDC) adoption comes from countries outside of the United States.

On Aug. 8 tweet to his 131,300 followers on X (Twitter), Allaire said the high rate of non-U.S. adoption was “despite the hype that we’re all about the US,” adding:

“We estimate that 70% of USDC adoption is non-US, and some of the fastest growing areas are emerging and developing markets.”

He added that strong progress was happening across Asia, Latin America (LATAM), and Africa.

Despite the hype that we’re all about the US, we estimate that 70% of USDC adoption is non-US, and some of the fastest growing areas are emerging and developing markets. Strong progress happening across Asia, LATAM and Africa. Demand for safe, transparent digital dollars is…

— Jeremy Allaire (@jerallaire) August 7, 2023

Paolo Ardoino, CTO of rival stablecoin issuer Tether, echoed a similar non-U.S. focus for his firm and stablecoin. In February, he said that USDT can be “considered a safe tool for emerging markets and developing countries.”

Cointelegraph reached out to Circle for further details on non-U.S. expansion but had not received a response at the time of publication.

Allaire’s comments came amid an announcement from PayPal tha it is launching its own USD-pegged stablecoin, PayPal USD (PYUSD), where he congratulated the firm and Paxos, adding:

“It’s incredibly exciting to see such a significant internet and payments company entering the stablecoin space. This is what happens when we start to get regulatory clarity.”

His comments also come amid a decline in USDC supply since the beginning of 2023, due to dwindling demand and an increase in redemptions. As a result, its stablecoin market share has shrunk to just 21% with a total circulation of $26.1 billion.

Related: Circle to launch ‘official version’ of USDC natively on Arbitrum

On Aug. 8, Allaire also commented on concerns over USDC liquidity, confirming that redemptions were outpacing issuance stating, “Over the past month, we’ve issued $5B USDC, and have redeemed $6.6B USDC.”

Allaire added that Circle’s global banking and liquidity network was expanding and the firm was working with “exceptional and high-quality banks in major regions around the world.”

USDC Liquidity. Over the past month, we’ve issued $5B USDC, and have redeemed $6.6B USDC.

USDC banking is public and transparent, with 24/7/365 mint/burn, and wire settlement with nearly 90 countries.

USDC reserves are attested by Deloitte every month, and all of our T-bill…

— Jeremy Allaire (@jerallaire) August 7, 2023

In a transparency report released on Aug. 3, the firm stated that its Circle Reserve Fund held a 93% portfolio of short-dated US Treasuries, overnight US Treasury repurchase agreements, and cash. The remaining 7% is cash reserves at banks, according to Circle.

In early June, Circle announced that it had received a Major Payment Institution (MPI) license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

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