Circle expands stablecoin network with $400 million Tazapay acquisition

Circle Internet Group is buying Singapore-based Tazapay for $400 million in stock, adding B2B cross-border payments rails that should help push USDC deeper into Asia-Pacific and other emerging markets. For PSPs and banks, the point is straightforward: Circle is not just issuing a stablecoin, it is buying the last-mile plumbing needed to settle and pay out in local markets at scale.

1. The deal was announced Tuesday and is expected to close in 2027, subject to customary closing conditions, including approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Circle is acquiring Tazapay, a business-to-business cross-border payments company, in a stock transaction valued at $400 million.
2. Tazapay is already wired into Circle’s ecosystem. It has been a design partner in the Circle Payments Network since 2025, and Circle invested in Tazapay’s Series B in March. That matters because this is not a cold start acquisition; it is a way to turn an existing partner into owned infrastructure.
3. On the operating side, Tazapay holds money transmitter licenses in Singapore, India, Hong Kong and the U.S. As of July 31, 2026, it had processed around $25 billion in annualized payment volume, with more than 60 fintech and bank partners and payout rails in more than 100 markets.
4. Circle says the acquisition will expand USDC distribution in the Asia-Pacific region and other emerging markets where demand for USDC-denominated transactions is growing. Keybanc analysts said the deal adds “last-mile infrastructure” connecting USDC and the Circle Payments Network to local currencies and markets at scale.
5. Keybanc also pointed to use cases including global accounts, payouts, ramps, rewards and P2P, with verticals spanning travel, online gaming, e-commerce, fintech, SaaS platforms, digital products, and white-label solutions for fintechs, marketplaces and platforms. In other words, Circle is buying reach into the kinds of merchant flows high-risk PSPs already spend their time underwriting and keeping alive.

The broader signal is that more banks are hedging with stablecoins. Last week, 21 financial institutions across North America, Europe, East Asia, the Middle East and Africa — including Bank of America, PNC Financial Services, Wells Fargo, Banco Santander and MUFG Bank — said they planned to establish a new company in the second half of the year that would issue a U.S. dollar-denominated stablecoin in early 2027.