Circle targets 40 new markets as stablecoin demand climbs in Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Middle East

Circle says it plans to enter 40 new markets, a move that fits the company’s push to turn USDC from a crypto-native settlement tool into something businesses can actually use in more places. For PSPs, the important part is not the headline number; it is Circle’s growing distribution footprint, banking access, and the fact that the demand is showing up in specific high-velocity regions.

1. Circle CEO and Chairman Jeremy Allaire told Reuters that the company plans to enter 40 new markets around the world. He said Circle is seeing growing demand for stablecoins from individuals and businesses in Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.
2. Allaire described the current phase as a shift “from the early adopter phase of blockchain technology into the mainstream scaling phase.” In other words, Circle is framing this as a distribution problem now, not a novelty problem.
3. Circle said in an earnings presentation released in August that its USDC stablecoin network operates across 35 blockchain networks, more than 55 registrations and licenses, and 185 countries. The company also said it has over 15 partner banks, more than 150 distribution partnerships and over 2,750 direct relationships.
4. In September, Circle announced plans to acquire Singapore-based B2B cross-border payments infrastructure company Tazapay. The deal is expected to close next year, and Circle says it is meant to use Tazapay’s banking relationships, local payout rails and institutional customer base to speed up adoption of USDC.
5. Tazapay has over 60 banking and FinTech partners and local payout rails covering more than 100 markets. Circle’s Irfan Ganchi said Tazapay brings deep payment infrastructure across APAC and emerging markets, where Circle sees increasing demand for USDC-denominated transactions.
6. Later in September, Circle and Binance said they are teaming up to promote access to USDC in emerging markets. Under the expanded five-year agreement, Binance is investing $100 million in Circle and will accelerate promotion, awareness and integration of USDC on its platform, particularly in emerging markets.

For high-risk operators and their payment providers, the practical signal is that Circle is building more routes into local banking and payout networks, not just more token rails. That matters when the question is whether USDC can move from treasury use case to actual checkout, payout, and cross-border settlement flow in specific markets.