Circle plans to expand into roughly 40 emerging and developing markets as global stablecoin demand accelerates, CEO Jeremy Allaire said on October 16. The company is targeting regions such as Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East, where blockchain adoption is moving from early usage toward mainstream scale.
The international push is backed by Circle’s $400 million acquisition of Tazapay and a $100 million strategic investment from Binance. Circle currently holds about 25% of the global stablecoin market, while USDC circulation rose 19% year over year to $73.3 billion in the second quarter.
Circle also reported approximately $1.4 billion in revenue for the first half of 2026. Of that, $819 million, or 59%, was allocated to USDC distribution partners and transaction costs, while $473 million went to compliance, licensing and product development. The company said clients using the Circle Payments Network can now access free, near-real-time USDC redemptions.
USDC’s on-chain transaction volume exceeded $36 trillion in H1 2026, representing about 77% of global stablecoin transaction volume in June. Allaire cited growing regulatory clarity, cross-border payment demand, and rising stablecoin use by financial institutions and AI agents as supportive factors, while cautioning that expanding digital infrastructure brings new security risks.
