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Allaire says the stablecoin fight will hinge on liquidity, integrations and regulated usage once OUSD goes live. The post Circle CEO says Open USD must break USDC’s network effect before its 140 backers matter appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Bernstein said OUSD could become the strongest new challenger to the Circle-Tether duopoly, while flagging unresolved questions around governance, operations and revenue sharing. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire argued that USDC's decade-long network of integrations, liquidity and regulatory infrastructure gives it a structural advantage over new stablecoin entrants, while challenging key elements of Open USD's proposed business model. In a Wednesday X post, Allaire described stablecoin networks as platform businesses driven by network effects, saying sustained investment in integrations, liquidity, regulatory approvals, banking relationships and reserve management creates competitive advantages that are difficult to replicate. He also questioned whether permanently offering free, unlimited minting and redemption would remain sustainable at scale and said returning nearly all reserve income to partners risks “starving an infrastructure.” Read more

Coinbase and Circle have posted steeper losses than Oracle, Netflix and Salesforce, highlighting the widening gap between crypto equities and the broader market. A broad selloff in technology stocks has weighed even more heavily on crypto-focused companies, highlighting a growing divergence between digital asset equities and the broader US stock market. Shares of Coinbase (COIN) and Circle (CRCL) have fallen 69% and 72%, respectively, from their all-time highs. Those declines exceed the drawdowns seen in several major technology companies, including Oracle (ORCL), Salesforce (CRM), Netflix (NFLX) and Palantir (PLTR), which are down between 48% and 57% from their peaks, according to data from The Kobeissi Letter. By comparison, the large-cap S&P 500 Index has retreated just 3.5% from its recent high. Read more

Ripple and SBI announced the official launch of RLUSD in Japan on June 24, following JFSA approval, with the stablecoin available to institutional and retail users through SBI VC Trade. Ripple categorized RLUSD under Japan's Payment Services Act as a new type of electronic payment instrument for foreign-issued stablecoins, the first time the company has […] The post Ripple got RLUSD into Japan, now the stablecoin race begins as Circle and Nomura join appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Circle and Nomura are reportedly partnering to enable stablecoin-based foreign exchange settlement for Japanese companies as the country's regulated blockchain-based financial infrastructure expands. Stablecoin issuer Circle and Japan's largest investment bank Nomura have reportedly partnered to enable instant foreign exchange settlement for Japanese companies as early as 2027. The service would enable companies to convert yen into dollar-denominated stablecoins for cross-border transactions and instant settlement, reducing delays caused by banking hours and time zone differences, Nikkei reported on Thursday. The partnership would bring one of the world's largest dollar stablecoins into Japan's corporate foreign exchange market, expanding the use of stablecoins for business-to-business cross-border settlement. Read more

cirBTC gives Circle a BTC wrapper, but the harder test is whether custody, reserves, liquidity, and redemption controls can win institutional use. The post Circle wants wrapped Bitcoin to look bank grade before institutions trust it as collateral appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Circle unveiled cirBTC, a token backed 1:1 by the world's largest cryptocurrency, to allow traders to use their bitcoin wealth in DeFi protocols.

The $12.6 million in USDC was likely frozen in connection with an ongoing but unrelated civil court case, according to onchain sleuth ZachXBT. Stablecoin issuer Circle froze $12.6 million in USDC dollar-pegged tokens linked to privacy protocol Zama’s confidential USDC smart contract on Saturday, according to onchain sleuth ZachXBT. The smart contract is “publicly labeled” on block explorers and the privacy protocol’s technical documentation, ZachXBT said.  The exact reason for the freeze is “unclear,” he said, adding that wallets linked to the Overnight Finance decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol deposited $12.4 million into the Zama protocol on May 11, 2026. He said: Read more

President Donald Trump has pushed the Federal Reserve to revisit one of the most contested gateways in US finance, escalating a fight over whether crypto and fintech firms should be allowed to connect directly to the central bank’s payment system. On May 19, Trump signed an executive order directing the Fed to evaluate its policies […] The post Trump order puts Kraken, Ripple, Coinbase and Circle in line for Fed payment rails appeared first on CryptoSlate.

The revenue share deal could shift an estimated $160 million in revenue from Coinbase and Circle into Hyperliquid's ecosystem, Compass Point analysts said.

Coinbase and Circle's commitment to Hyperliquid's AQAv2 upgrade sent HYPE up to roughly $45 on May 14, a deal that makes USDC the platform's aligned quote asset and directs the vast majority of reserve-yield revenue back to the protocol. The rally reflected traders reading the announcement as institutional validation of the protocol-aligned stablecoin model pioneered […] The post HYPE jumps as Coinbase and Circle back Hyperliquid’s stablecoin model appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Circle's $222 million ARC token presale has given Wall Street a new way to value the USDC issuer, while raising a harder question for one of crypto’s most profitable alliances. On May 11, Circle said investors led by a16z Crypto backed the presale of ARC, the native token for Arc, its planned public blockchain for […] The post Circle adds $3 billion Wall Street Arc token risking an uncomfortable rivalry with Coinbase appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Circle shares surged as analysts pointed to expanding stablecoin use cases and forecast significant upside as USDC adoption continues to gain traction. Shares of stablecoin issuer Circle surged Monday after the company reported mostly upbeat earnings and disclosed that a major crypto venture capital fund had purchased $222 million worth of its blockchain tokens. Circle’s shares rose almost 16% to close at $131.76, its highest level since March 18, according to Yahoo Finance. CRCL stock gave back some of its gains in initial after-hours activity. The gain extends Circle’s strong run in 2026. Shares are now up 66% year to date, giving the company a market capitalization of roughly $35 billion. Read more

Circle raised $222 million in an ARC token presale led by a16z Crypto as Q1 revenue hit $694 million and USDC circulation climbed to $77 billion. Circle Internet Group agreed to sell 740 million ARC tokens for $222 million in a private placement led by a16z Crypto, valuing the Arc blockchain network at $3 billion on a fully diluted basis. The New York Stock Exchange-listed issuer of the USDC stablecoin disclosed the token presale Monday alongside its first-quarter 2026 results, which showed higher revenue and reserve income but lower net income. The round was led by a16z Crypto and backed by a consortium including BlackRock, Apollo Funds, ARK Invest, Bullish, General Catalyst, Haun Ventures, Intercontinental Exchange, IDG Capital, Janus Henderson Investors, Marshall Wace, SBI Group and Standard Chartered Ventures. Read more

Circle raised $222 million for its Arc blockchain token at a $3 billion valuation, drawing backing from BlackRock, Apollo and Bullish.

The new tools let AI agents hold wallets, discover services and make programmable USDC payments across blockchain networks. Circle launched a suite of tools designed to let AI agents hold wallets, discover services and make programmable payments using USDC, as companies race to build financial infrastructure for autonomous software systems. The products, released under Circle’s new “Agent Stack,” include agent-focused wallets, a command-line developer interface, a marketplace for agentic services and a nanopayments protocol for machine-to-machine transactions. Circle said the nanopayments infrastructure supports gas-free USDC (USDC) transfers as small as $0.000001 and is designed for high-frequency autonomous payment flows between software systems. Read more

Circle and Tether are going to make it harder for stablecoins to feel like money, said Ben O'Neill, head of money movement at Bridge.

The USDC Bridge adds to Circle's Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol, which often sees over $500 million worth of USDC transfers each day. Stablecoin issuer Circle has launched USDC Bridge, a new user interface built on top of the Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP) that seeks to simplify native cross-chain transfers of the USDC stablecoin. On Friday, Circle’s USDC X account said the bridge allows users to move the USDC (USDC) stablecoin in a “predictable, transparent way,” citing a native burn-and-mint transfer mechanism and no bridge complexities. Gas fees will be handled automatically, fees will be shown upfront, and live status updates will be provided throughout the transfer, Circle added. Read more

USDT stablecoin issuer Tether has stepped in to anchor a massive recovery plan for Drift Protocol, the Solana-based decentralized exchange (DEX) that was crippled by a $286 million exploit earlier this month. However, the rescue package includes a potent commercial string that could challenge Circle's dominance of USDC on the Solana blockchain. According to the recovery plan, Drift […] The post Tether uses $127M Drift rescue to challenge Circle’s grip on Solana payments appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Circle’s Jeremy Allaire sees “tremendous” room for a yuan stablecoin, despite China banning most private yuan tokens and pushing its CBDC to challenge US dollar stablecoins. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire says there is “tremendous opportunity” for a yuan-backed stablecoin, despite Beijing’s formal moves against most private renminbi-linked stablecoins and commitment to its own digital yuan.  Speaking to Reuters in Hong Kong on Thursday, Allaire framed stablecoins as a way for China to “export” its currency by making global payments easier, as digital money becomes more tightly woven into trade and finance, and said the country could roll out a yuan-backed stablecoin within three to five years.  Geopolitical rivalry over money is increasingly being waged in code as much as in central bank policy, and Allaire’s comments sharpen a deeper question: Can governments that clamp down on private digital currencies afford to shun them if they want to compete globally? Read more