70% of USDC adoption comes from outside the US

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 โ€œdespite the hype that we’re all about the US,โ€ adding:

โ€œWe estimate that 70% of USDC adoption is non-US, and some of the fastest growing areas are emerging and developing markets.โ€

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

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 โ€œconsidered a safe tool for emerging markets and developing countries.โ€

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.ย As a result, its stablecoin market share has shrunk to just 21% with a total circulation of $26.1 billion.

Related: Circle to launch โ€˜official versionโ€™ of USDC natively on Arbitrum

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

Allaire added that Circleโ€™s global banking and liquidity network was expanding and the firm was working with โ€œexceptional and high-quality banks in major regions around the world.โ€

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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