Banking Circle was launched in 2016 with a mission to help payments
businesses reach new global markets, avoiding the burdens of traditional
banking.
Banking Circle, a European bank focused on cross-border payments, is
adopting a major U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin for payment rails.
The firm officially announced on Friday the adoption of the USD Coin (USDC) on its platform as a payment acceptance, processing and settlement method.
The
new payment feature is enabled as part of Banking Circle’s new service
targeting banks and payment providers, allowing them to facilitate
payments outside traditional bank rails.
Coinbase, a major
cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, will be one of the crypto
liquidity providers for Bank Circle, the announcement notes.
The
USDC adoption by Banking Circle is positioned as a “key step in
democratizing global finance” as it provides significant
“reconciliation, speed and cost advantages,” the firm said.
Mishal
Ruparel, head of virtual asset services at Banking Circle, told
Cointelegraph that the USDC integration is the bank’s first move into
the digital asset market. “Some of our clients have been serving the
crypto space for the past year or two, and we want to support their
growth,” he added.
Banking Circle has chosen USDC as their first
proposition because it has the “biggest relevance to our clients at this
point,” Ruparel noted. “We will be adding other USD pegged stablecoins
and those for other currencies in the future,” he said, adding that the
firm is targeting a limited number of asset-backed stablecoins in Q3
2022.
Ruparel also predicted that asset-backed stablecoins like
USDC will become more mainstream payment instrument in the future,
stating:
“This will allow a lot of companies who sell
goods, services, or creative content online the ability to sell, collect
funds, and receive their earnings almost anywhere. It also removes a
lot of the friction and time needed to transfer internationally.”
Banking
Circle was launched in 2016 with a mission to help payments businesses
reach new global markets, avoiding the process burdens of traditional
banking. Headquartered in Luxembourg, operates as a credit institution under the regulations of the Luxembourg Commission for the Financial Sector.
The firm also offers
services in other European countries such as the United Kingdom,
operating under limited supervision of the U.K. Financial Conduct
Authority.
Related: Circle's USDC on track to topple Tether USDT as the top stablecoin in 2022
USDC is the world’s second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization, following only Tether (USDT).
The USDC stablecoin was launched in 2018 as a joint project between the
Coinbase crypto exchange and Circle, a U.S.-based blockchain payment
firm founded by Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville in October 2013.
source link : https://cointelegraph.com/news/eu-regulated-firm-banking-circle-adopts-usdc-stablecoin
