Stablecoin issuer Circle to push into 40 new markets, CEO says

By Selena Li BANGKOK, Oct 16 (Reuters) — Stablecoin issuer Circle is making a major push to enter about 40 emerging and developing countries around the world as blockchain adoption is expected to scale up significantly, the company's CEO and chairman Jeremy Allaire told Reuters. "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," said Allaire, who is also co-founder of the New York-listed company. He was speaking on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank meetings in Bangkok. Markers in regions like Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East are seeing rising organic demand for stablecoins and digital utility from individual and businesses wanting to part of an internet-based economic system, Allaire said. Circle, the world’s largest regulated stablecoin issuer, is accelerating its global expansion, backed by a $400 million acquisition of Tazapay and a $100 million strategic investment from Binance. It holds roughly 25% of the global stablecoin market share, while rival USDT, which is issued by Tether, commands nea