Circle, the issuer of the USDC Stablecoin, is reportedly investigating a partnership with Ant Group to expand his presence in China, according to a July 10 report By Bloomberg.
Sources that are familiar with the business reportedly said that Ant Group, parent company of Alipay and one of the largest financial technology companies in China is planning to integrate USDC into the blockchain infrastructure through its international Anner, Ant International. If completed, the integration of USDC in the extremely popular Alipay payment platform can be viable, so that it is unlocked over a billion New users.
The relocation is in line with the broader goal of Ant International to bring regulated digital assets, including Stablecoins, Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and Tokenized deposits, to its platform. USDC, a commonly used Stablecoin, could play a crucial role in this strategy.
American compliance
However, the partnership reportedly depends on Circle’s ability to meet the American regulatory standards in the Genius Act.
In particular, Circle seems ready to meet the regulations of the Genius Act, which can give the company a first-mover benefit among American Stablecoin spending that want to expand.
The Genius Act, supported by American officials, including President Donald Trump and Finance Minister Scott Bessent, introduces robust compliance measures that are intended to protect users and improve the stability of digital assets.
If successful, cooperation with Ant Group Circle could offer a rare opportunity to enter the tightly regulated financial market of China. Despite the restrictions of the Chinese government on crypto -trading and mining, many users continue to engage in the digital assets space.
However, the position of the Chinese government in relation to US dollar-supported assets remains a point of care. Chinese financial experts have called on alarms about the growing influence of Stablecoins, particularly supported by the US dollar, in global financial systems. This could lead to further regulatory actions by China to protect his financial sovereignty.
Challenging USDT from Tether
In the meantime, a partnership with Ant Group would reinforce the bid of Circle to challenge Tether’s USDT. Tether has the dominant market position with a capitalization of almost $ 160 billion.
USDC has a market capitalization of around $ 62 billion compared to comparison. However, it actively builds on strength partnerships With large stock markets, including Binance and the most recently, OKX.
Circle noted that the demand for USDC continues to grow at companies and people who are looking for reliable, internet-native money. The company is of the opinion that its strategic exchange partnerships will help expand access to USDC to emerging markets where the liquidity of the US dollar is limited.
