Casey Wagner

<div id="highlights-block_62559489d24e5" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Circle’s latest funding round is expected to close in the second quarter</li>
 <li>The raise comes as Congress starts to take a more critical look at the stablecoin industry</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Circle, one half of the <a href="https://www.centre.io/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Centre Consortium</a> behind stablecoin USDC, has announced a $400 million fundraise from firms including BlackRock, Fidelity Management and Research and Fin Capital.&nbsp;



BlackRock and Circle also revealed a new strategic partnership to focus on exploring capital market applications for USDC, the companies <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/circle-announces-400m-funding-round-301523647.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>. USDC, the second largest stablecoin in the world, currently has over $50 billion in circulation, Circle said.



&#8220;Dollar digital currencies like USDC are fueling a global economic transformation, and Circle&#8217;s technology infrastructure sits at the center of that change,” Jeremy Allaire, co-founder and CEO of Circle, said in a statement. “This funding round will drive the next evolution of Circle&#8217;s growth.”



The latest funding round comes as Circle executives continue to publicly plead with US regulators, who are starting to take a closer look at the rapidly growing stablecoin industry. Dante Disparte, chief strategy officer and head of global policy at Circle, appeared before the <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/senators-cant-agree-on-path-for-stablecoin-regulation-during-hearing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Senate Banking Committee</a> in December to defend USDC’s place in the global financial landscape.&nbsp;



Stablecoins play an essential role in deploying smart contracts, Disparte told senators, and will continue to be used in a host of industries. Without stablecoins, blockchain technology’s impact on innovation is limited, he noted.



“An open internet dollar functionally becomes one of the only missing links to enable [smart contracts] at scale,” Disparte said during the hearing. “We’re in the opening innings and when people say we have failed the financial inclusion test, the presumption is that the stablecoin has agency just as the dollar, and both are patently wrong.”&nbsp;



Circle’s General Counsel Flavia Naves has also been vocal about the need to create regulation that allows for innovation, arguing that the proposed rule to only allow banks to issue stablecoins will effectively end the industry.&nbsp;



“Trying to place the existing constructs of traditional banks on stablecoin issuers may have the effect of simply banning the entire industry altogether,” Naves said during a <a href="https://events.merklescience.com/stability-in-the-cryptosphere" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">virtual panel</a> discussion with Merkle Science in December. “I am sure this is not the desired intent of the regulators, but it may just go in that direction.” 



BlackRock’s participation in the funding round and strategic partnership is “particularly gratifying,” Allaire said, and will help to scale Circle as stablecoins start to play a larger role in the global economy.



BlackRock hired between 12 and 20 registered lobbyists and spent between about $1.8 and $2.7 million in each of the past five years to lobby the federal government, according to data from <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/summary?cycle=2018&amp;id=D000021872" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">OpenSecrets</a>.



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BlackRock

BlackRock, Fidelity Back USDC Issuer in $400M Raise

Sam Reynolds

<div id="highlights-block_618baf7d2afdf" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Circle announced today that its building out its Asia hub in Singapore, in conjunction with the Monetary Authority of Singapore</li>
 <li>Circle began hiring across Asia earlier this year, as USDC gains marketshare against the dominant player, Tether</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, announced today that it has begun the process of establishing a regional hub in Singapore, working with the Monetary Authority of Singapore to acquire the required licenses to set up shop.&nbsp;



&#8220;You cannot build an always-on, global internet finance business without considering Singapore as a hub,&#8221; said Dante Disparte, Circle&#8217;s Chief Strategy Officer and Global Head of Policy.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">&#8220;The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has been an extraordinary regulatory partner as we have looked to expand our business horizons and invest in the Singaporean market.&#8221;</blockquote>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignright size-thumbnail"><img decoding="async" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/jeremy-allaire-150x150-1.jpg" alt="Jeremy Allaire" class="wp-image-2412"/><figcaption>Jeremy Allaire</figcaption></figure></div>



In a press release, Circle said it is looking for partners to experiment in stablecoin innovations in the Singapore market as part of a Lighthouse Project, with MAS observing and guiding project design.



&#8220;MAS has always been at the forefront of fintech innovation,&#8221; said Jeremy Allaire, Co-founder and CEO of Circle. &#8220;We are honored to work with MAS and look forward to collaborating with Singaporean businesses on our innovation initiatives.&#8221;



Circle started hiring for the hub earlier this year, as <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/circle-hiring-in-asia-as-usdc-demand-grows/">Blockworks previously reported</a>. Within Asia, Stablecoin usage is notably high, with unregulated Tether making up most of the volume.&nbsp;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">USDT vs USDC and the centralized stablecoin landscape</h3>



Recently, Aymeric Salley, the co-founder of StraitsX, which issues XSGD, a Singapore-dollar based stablecoin, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/a-majority-of-stablecoins-will-be-non-usd-says-straitsx-founder/">forecast</a> that in the future USD-issued stablecoins will eventually only represent 50% or less of the total stablecoin value in circulation. That being said, the market so far has <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/singapore-strives-to-be-a-home-for-stablecoins-but-challenges-lie-ahead/">strongly signalled support</a> for USD-denominated stablecoins — or their proxies — given the US currency’s liquidity.



According to Coingecko, USDT today has a total market cap of <a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/tether" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$74.7 billion</a>, compared to <a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/usd-coin" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$34.5 billion</a> for USDC. Data analytics firm Nansen shows $4.8 billion of the USDT supply on the Binance exchange alone, while the balance of USDC on Binance is $3.2 billion. However, on decentralized exchanges, USDC has the edge, with $1.5 billion circulating within <a href="http://curve.fi">Curve Finance</a> and $950 million on <a href="http://uniswap.org">Uniswap</a>, compared with $978 million and $425 million for USDT respectively.



Binance’s native BUSD, which is administered by <a href="https://paxos.com/">Paxos</a>, is a distant third at $13.1 billion, however Nansen shows that nearly 98% of that supply is on Binance itself, where many digital assets trade against BUSD.



Macauley Peterson contributed reporting.



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