Circle Plans Push Into About 40 Emerging Markets, CEO Tells Reuters
Jeremy Allaire named Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East but gave no country list or timeline; the pending Tazapay acquisition and Binance's $100 million investment are the announced building blocks.
By Elena Marsh, Journalist, Stablecoins
Circle is preparing to enter about 40 emerging and developing countries, chief executive and chairman Jeremy Allaire told Reuters in an interview published on 16 October 2026. Allaire was speaking on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank meetings in Bangkok. He pointed to Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East as regions where individuals and businesses are showing rising organic demand for stablecoins.
The plan is reported through an interview, not formally announced. The Reuters report does not name the countries, give a timeline, or say which licences, products or local partners each entry would involve. NextCurrency did not find a Circle press release describing a 40-market expansion at the time of publication.
What Allaire told Reuters
Allaire framed the expansion as a response to a shift in adoption. "We're kind of going through an inflection point...a transition right now, and that transition is essentially moving from the early adopter phase of blockchain technology into the mainstream scaling phase," he told Reuters.
He also said machine-to-machine payments between AI agents had boosted USDC use, and warned that financial infrastructure providers face escalating threats from sophisticated actors and automated agent swarms. Reuters reported that Circle holds roughly 25% of global stablecoin market share, against nearly 60% for Tether's USDT.
The distribution pieces already announced
Reuters tied the push to two recent deals, both of which Circle has announced itself. In September, Circle agreed to acquire Singapore-headquartered payments firm Tazapay, which brings more than 60 banking and fintech partners and local payout capabilities across more than 100 markets. A Circle filing values the consideration at about $400 million in Circle Class A stock; the deal is expected to close in 2027 and remains subject to regulatory approvals. Separately, Binance made a $100 million equity investment in Circle alongside a five-year commercial agreement aimed at expanding USDC access in emerging markets.
Why the country count is the easy part
For a dollar stablecoin issuer, entering a market in practice means local on- and off-ramps, banking relationships, payout rails and, in many jurisdictions, a licence or a licensed partner. That is why the pending Tazapay acquisition, once it closes, matters more to the plan than the headline number: it supplies the banking and payout relationships an issuer otherwise has to build country by country.
On the market-share figures Reuters cited, USDT is more than twice USDC's size globally, so the expansion is also a distribution contest. Until Circle names markets, dates and the entities that will operate in them, the 40-country figure is best read as a stated ambition from its chief executive rather than a launch schedule.
Sources
- Reuters via CNA: Stablecoin issuer Circle to push into 40 new markets, CEO says (16 October 2026)
- Circle: Circle expands global payments infrastructure with agreement to acquire Tazapay (September 2026)
- Circle: Binance invests $100 million in Circle and renews commercial agreement for five years (September 2026)