Circle Plots 40-Country Stablecoin Tour While AI Agents Start Spending USDC Pocket Change

Circle Internet Group is preparing to bring its USDC stablecoin to roughly 40 emerging and developing economies, CEO and Chairman Jeremy Allaire told Reuters on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank meetings in Bangkok. Allaire said demand for dollar-pegged digital tokens is rising across Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East as consumers and businesses seek access to internet-based financial services. The push, he said, reflects a shift "from the early adopter phase of blockchain technology into the mainstream scaling phase."

Circle holds about 25% of the stablecoin market against roughly 60% for Tether's USDT, with USDC circulation up 19% year over year to $73.3 billion in the second quarter. The company is funding the expansion through a $400 million all-stock acquisition of Singapore-based cross-border payments platform Tazapay, expected to close in 2027, and a $100 million strategic investment from Binance, according to Reuters. Circle secured a U.S. federal banking charter in July and has pursued a New York trust charter, positioning itself ahead of the GENIUS Act, the U.S. stablecoin law slated to take effect in January. Allaire called the legislation "a watershed moment" that would deliver the world "legal digital dollars," and described bank-issued stablecoins as healthy competition after a long period when "they are no longer in charge, and the innovators are having their day."

On Monday, Circle reported quarterly earnings and announced a $222 million token sale that values its Arc network at $3 billion, alongside the launch of Circle Agent Stack, a set of developer tools designed to let artificial intelligence agents open wallets and transact in USDC. Allaire credited small machine-to-machine payments by AI agents with lifting USDC usage, while warning that AI also poses security risks to financial infrastructure: "If you're not concerned about it, then your head is in the sand, right?" Arc has been adopted by BlackRock, Visa and Standard Chartered, the company said.

Separately, MSCI said in an Oct. 15 announcement that it has finalized a rule change classifying "non-operating companies" as ineligible for inclusion in its widely tracked equity indexes, a move that could affect Bitcoin treasury firms including Michael Saylor's Strategy and reduce passive investment flows to their shares.