{"id":54782,"date":"2026-01-23T04:36:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T04:36:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emilynews.com\/blog\/?p=54782"},"modified":"2026-01-23T04:36:21","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T04:36:21","slug":"usdc-neutral-layer-not-a-rival-to-visa-or-mastercard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emilynews.com\/blog\/?p=54782","title":{"rendered":"USDC – neutral layer, not a rival to Visa or Mastercard?"},"content":{"rendered":"

At Davos, Jeremy Allaire said Circle’s stablecoin functions as shared infrastructure rather than a competitor to banks or card networks.<\/p>\n

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire\u00a0said\u00a0the company\u00a0views its dollar-pegged stablecoin as neutral financial infrastructure with network effects, rather than a product meant to compete with existing payment companies.<\/p>\n

Speaking\u00a0on CNBC\u2019s\u00a0Squawk Box during the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, Allaire said\u00a0Circle\u00a0does not view card networks such as\u00a0Visa\u00a0or\u00a0Mastercard\u00a0as competitors, describing them instead as \u201csignificant partners.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Allaire, stablecoins are \u201cnetwork effect businesses,\u201d with usage and circulation increasing as more developers and institutions integrate, adding that Circle operates as a \u201cneutral company\u201d that does not compete with banks, payment companies or exchanges.<\/p>\n

He also said the long-term implications of stablecoins remain unknown.<\/p>\n

Over time, the cost of storing and moving money around goes to zero. In that future world, where AI agents are doing the money movement, it\u2019s going to be hard to know exactly what the payment business model is over that period of time.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Stripe,
Jeremy Allaire, right, speaks during a Squawk Box interview at the World Economic Forum. Source: <\/em>CNBC<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n

Asked whether the stalled\u00a0Digital Asset Markets Clarity bill could pass in the US Congress this year, Allaire said: \u201cThere\u2019s clearly a bipartisan desire to do that,\u201d adding that the bill extends beyond stablecoins to address the broader use of digital tokens in capital markets, which is in the interest of traditional banks and crypto companies alike.<\/p>\n

Circle is the issuer of USDC, the second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization. The company went public in\u00a0June 2025, pricing its initial public offering at\u00a0$31 per share before opening trading at $69.<\/p>\n

The stock rose as high as $263.45 in late May, but has since retraced to $72, according to Yahoo Finance data.<\/p>\n

\"Stripe,
Market performance of Circle shares since the NYSE listing. Source: <\/em>Yahoo Finance<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Related: <\/strong><\/em>Bermuda partners with Coinbase and Circle for \u2018fully onchain\u2018 economy<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Stablecoin competitors emerge in 2025<\/h2>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n

The rapid expansion of the stablecoin market has brought a wave of new competitors challenging Circle\u2019s position.<\/p>\n

In March, Fidelity Investments was reported to be in the final stages of testing a US dollar\u2013pegged stablecoin. The $5.8 trillion asset manager plans to launch the stablecoin through its crypto arm, Fidelity Digital Assets.<\/p>\n

About a month later,\u00a0Stripe\u00a0said it was building a US dollar\u2013backed stablecoin for companies outside the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe. The stablecoin will be powered by\u00a0Bridge.<\/p>\n

Crypto payments company MoonPay is also launching a US dollar\u2013backed stablecoin aimed at everyday payments, with a planned release in early 2026.<\/p>\n

The total stablecoin market capitalization was $309 billion on Thursday, according to DefiLlama data.<\/p>\n

Circle\u2019s USDC accounts for about $74.2 billion of the market, ranking second behind Tether’s USDt, which remains the dominant issuer with about $186.7 billion in circulation.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Stablecoin market cap. Source: <\/em>DefiLlama<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At Davos, Jeremy Allaire said Circle’s stablecoin functions as shared infrastructure rather than a competitor to banks or card networks. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire\u00a0said\u00a0the company\u00a0views its dollar-pegged stablecoin as neutral financial infrastructure with network effects, … USDC – neutral layer, not a rival to Visa or Mastercard?<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":54784,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5651,6],"tags":[139,3812,5652,10,159,97],"class_list":["post-54782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptonews","category-information","tag-bitcoin","tag-cryptonews","tag-emilynews","tag-hyip","tag-hyipnews","tag-hyips","exalt-entry"],"yoast_head":"\nUSDC - neutral layer, not a rival to Visa or Mastercard? - EmilyNews<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emilynews.com\/blog\/?p=54782\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"USDC - neutral layer, not a rival to Visa or Mastercard? - EmilyNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"At Davos, Jeremy Allaire said Circle’s stablecoin functions as shared infrastructure rather than a competitor to banks or card networks. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire\u00a0said\u00a0the company\u00a0views its dollar-pegged stablecoin as neutral financial infrastructure with network effects, … USDC – neutral layer, not a rival to Visa or Mastercard?Read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/emilynews.com\/blog\/?p=54782\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EmilyNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-23T04:36:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-23T04:36:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/emilynews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/btc-6.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"859\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"571\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Emilynews\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Emilynews\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emilynews.com\/blog\/?p=54782\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emilynews.com\/blog\/?p=54782\",\"name\":\"USDC - neutral layer, not a rival to Visa or Mastercard? - EmilyNews\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emilynews.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emilynews.com\/blog\/?p=54782#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emilynews.com\/blog\/?p=54782#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/emilynews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/btc-6.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-23T04:36:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-23T04:36:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emilynews.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d198218498e05856be72796eea940a33\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emilynews.com\/blog\/?p=54782#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/emilynews.com\/blog\/?p=54782\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emilynews.com\/blog\/?p=54782#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emilynews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/btc-6.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/emilynews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/btc-6.jpg\",\"width\":859,\"height\":571},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emilynews.com\/blog\/?p=54782#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/emilynews.com\/blog\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"USDC – neutral layer, not a rival to Visa or Mastercard?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emilynews.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emilynews.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"EmilyNews\",\"description\":\"EmilyNews Blog\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/emilynews.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emilynews.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d198218498e05856be72796eea940a33\",\"name\":\"Emilynews\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emilynews.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/080b41979dac9ab029c0867a1655bdaf?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/080b41979dac9ab029c0867a1655bdaf?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Emilynews\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/emilynews.com\/blog\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"USDC - neutral layer, not a rival to Visa or Mastercard? - EmilyNews","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/emilynews.com\/blog\/?p=54782","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"USDC - neutral layer, not a rival to Visa or Mastercard? - EmilyNews","og_description":"At Davos, Jeremy Allaire said Circle’s stablecoin functions as shared infrastructure rather than a competitor to banks or card networks. 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