Circle’s Allaire says stablecoin issuer looking to enter 40 developing markets: Report

Markets in Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East see increasing demand for stablecoins.

Stablecoin issuer Circle is seeking to enter about 40 developing markets, according to the company’s CEO and ​chairman, Jeremy Allaire.

“We’re kind of going through an inflection point... a transition right now, ‌and that transition is essentially moving from the early adopter phase of blockchain technology into the mainstream scaling phase,” Allaire told Reuters, speaking Friday on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank meetings ​in Bangkok.

Markets in Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East are experiencing increasing demand for stablecoins as businesses and individuals seek to enter the internet-based economic system, Allaire reportedly said. 

Cointelegraph reported on Aug. 24 that analysts at Bernstein were bullish on Circle (CRCL), foreseeing a new growth cycle for its USDC stablecoin may provide a significant boost for the company over the next 12 months.

Bernstein said the next phase of stablecoin growth could be driven by several factors, including renewed momentum in crypto markets, greater US regulatory clarity, tokenized capital markets and growing adoption of stablecoins for payments. The analysts also pointed to early signs of stablecoin use in payments made by AI agents.

Although USDC remains the second-largest dollar-backed stablecoin by market capitalization, well behind Tether’s USDt (USDT), it has gained significant ground in transaction activity. Bernstein said USDC’s share of adjusted stablecoin transaction volume rose from about 40% in 2025 to more than 60% so far in 2026, overtaking USDt by that measure.

USDC’s market cap late Friday was roughly $72.5 billion, according to CoinMarketCap data. USDT’s was roughly $183.4 billion. NYSE-traded CRLC stock closed down 5.5% on Friday at $82.22, extending an almost 24% decline over the past six months.

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