Listen, there's some interesting news at the intersection of crypto and classical finance. Do you remember how we once discussed stablecoins - those cryptocurrencies that are rigidly linked to the dollar, euro or another asset? So, Circle, the company behind the USDC stablecoin, has decided to seriously squeeze out such giants as Visa and Mastercard.
Circle already has considerable weight: their USDC stablecoin is the second most popular in the world after Tether's USDT, and it currently has a capitalization of about $ 60 billion. And now they are launching their own international payment network. This will be officially announced on April 22 on the 87th floor of the World Trade Center in New York - sounds impressive, right?
Their goal is ambitious: to make cross-border transfers as fast and cheap as possible, not through SWIFT or banks, but directly using the USDC. At first it will be similar to classic money transfers, and in the future it will be a full—fledged competition for payment giants. The project is designed for banks, fintechs, payment companies and other major market players.
Interestingly, all this is happening against the background of changes in US policy: literally after the inauguration, Trump signed a decree on the development of legal dollar stablecoins. That is, it seems that the government is no longer against it, but on the contrary, it is ready to regulate and support such technologies.
And here's the funny thing: while the United States is opening the way for digital dollar assets, in Europe, on the contrary, they are sounding the alarm. They believe that such stablecoins can transfer money from banks to cryptocurrency solutions. Imagine if, instead of opening a bank account, you just store the USDC in the app — then why do you need a bank at all?
So the market is really booming, and it looks like we are on the verge of major changes in the field of international payments.
Do you think crypto companies like Circle can really squeeze out the old giants like Visa and Mastercard?