Circle, the company behind the world's second-largest stablecoin USDC, made a bold statement about mainstream adoption of stablecoins as the go-to currency of the internet age.
Circle, the company behind the world's second-largest stablecoin USDC, made a bold statement about mainstream adoption of stablecoins as the go-to currency of the internet age. This optimistic forecast has come when the market for stablecoins has continued to show robust growth and growing competition.
Dante Disparte, chief strategy officer and head of global policy at Circle, is confident that stablecoins will become the next generation of money. According to Disparte, who also referred to the growing interest from major internet payment firms and financial services companies, this is a clear indication that "stablecoins are here to stay".
Still, Disparte underlined the importance of the global regulatory harmonization that is to be carried out. He highlighted that compliance with regulations surrounding financial crimes must be implemented equally to all companies regardless e of their location.
That call for regulatory clarity comes as Circle prepares to shift its global headquarters to New York by early 2025 after filing to go public in January.
That lack of a federal regulatory framework for dollar-referenced stablecoins in the United States is a concern, said Disparte. He warned that this kind of regulatory vacuum might just act as an incentive to create products that tap into confidence in the dollar without being bound by U.S. regulations and risk becoming a conduit for illicit actors.
Already partially in effect in Europe was the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, known as MiCA, where new rules about stablecoins took effect June 30. The first global stablecoin issuer to achieve compliance with the new framework was Circle.
While Disparte commended MiCA as providing some regulatory clarity, he added there is no perfect regulation, and discussion of a "MiCA 2.0" has been ongoing to address the gaps with non-fungible tokens and decentralized finance.
With new entrants like PayPal's PYUSD, which gained more than $1 billion in market capitalization in a very short period of time, competition is only getting fiercer. Ripple Labs is testing its USD-pegged stablecoin, while Tether’s USDT has been leading with a cap over $118 billion.
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