Circle Expands USDC Integration to Brazil and Mexico’s Financial Systems

Jimmy Aki
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On September 17, Circle, the company behind the USD Coin (USDC), announced the integration of its stablecoin into the banking systems of Brazil and Mexico. This allows the use of USDC within both countries’ national payment systems – Brazil’s PIX and Mexico’s SPEI, eliminating the need for international wire transfers

Expansion of USDC in Latin America

According to the announcement, the integration makes USDC accessible in local fiat currencies, including the Brazilian real (BRL) and the Mexican peso (MXN).

The integration of USDC in Brazil and Mexico is expected to simplify cross-border transactions, a key use case for stablecoins. By allowing businesses to access USDC from local banks, Circle aims to make it easier for companies to settle payments and handle corporate transactions without relying on lengthy international transfers.

This move is a major one for remittances and trade, especially given that remittances from the United States to Mexico reached $63 billion in 2023, a 7% increase from the previous year, representing 4% of Mexico’s economy.

Mexico is one of the United States’ largest trading partners, with more than $800 billion in goods and services exchanged between the two nations annually. In Brazil, around 95% of its $640 billion annual trade in goods is conducted in US dollars, including roughly $120 billion in trade with the United States.

New Access to Circle USDC in Local Currencies

Brazil’s PIX, an instant payment system launched by the central bank in 2020, enables individuals, businesses, and even government entities to complete transactions in real-time, 24 hours a day.

As of August 2024, PIX had more than 168 million users in the country. On the other hand, Mexico’s SPEI, a real-time interbank payment system, has been around for 20 years, handling approximately 3.3 million transactions in 2023.

According to Circle, integrating these systems gives businesses faster access to USDC.

“Eliminating international wires can drastically reduce the time it takes to access USDC- from days to just minutes, releasing capital trapped in the lengthy settlement processes,” the company said.

Furthermore, earlier on Tuesday, the CEO of Circle, Jeremy Allaire, said the company plans to bring USDC to the layer-1 blockchain Sui Network (SUI).

Last week, a report from investment firm Castle Island Ventures and hedge fund group Brevan Howard said that stablecoins are being used more often for daily financial activities like saving money, changing currencies, and making cross-border payments in countries like Brazil.

At press time, USDC holds a market capitalization of about $35 billion. While this places it behind Tether (USDT), which has a market cap of $118 billion, USDC’s growing presence in Latin America could increase its adoption in the region.

Notably, Circle USDC is attracting investment from various entities because of its perceived stability and reliability. In April, Binance converted its $1 billion Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) into USDC stablecoin, accounting for 3% of the total token’s supply.

About Jimmy Aki PRO INVESTOR

Based in the UK, Jimmy is an economic researcher with outstanding hands-on and heads-on experience in Macroeconomic finance analysis, forecasting and planning. He has honed his skills having worked cross-continental as a finance analyst, which gives him inter-cultural experience. He currently has a strong passion for regulation and macroeconomic trends as it allows him peek under the global bonnet to see how the world works.