Circle CEO predicts stablecoins will play major role in Hong Kong trade

CEO of Circle, Jeremy Allaire, says stablecoins will become a critical part of Hong Kong’s trade settlements as the region transitions into more Web3 territory.

According to an Oct. 30 report on South China Morning Post, Jeremy Allaire said Circle(cUSDC) is targeting Hong Kong for its “global network of stablecoins” that will make transactions cheaper and faster for markets trading through Hong Kong.

“In emerging and developing markets … there are importers who are importing out of Asia, and a lot of the trade flow is settled through Hong Kong,” said Allaire at Hong Kong FinTech Week 2024.

He said Hong Kong’s position as a trade hub makes it an attractive market for future trade settlements to be facilitated in stablecoins.

“We’re seeing this demand on both sides … The firms are like, ‘this is better, faster, cheaper,” Allaire stated.

At the event, Allaire announced two recent partnership projects. These projects include Circle’s customer loyalty solutions partnership with Hong Kong Telecom and its collaboration with Thunes to accommodate settle cross-border transactions using USDC.

As the second-largest stablecoin issuer in the world, Allaire considers Circle as the “the global regulatory guinea pig for stablecoins” because of its regulatory compliance. While other institutions are looking to employ central bank digital currencies as the foundation for a global on-chain economy, Allaire said stablecoins are already set to fulfill that role.

“Our view is that this is going to become regulated financial infrastructure everywhere in the world,” he said.

In July, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority released results of a consultation paper on a proposal to introduce a regulatory regime for stablecoins. Following that, the HKMA is set to introduce a new stablecoin regulatory framework by 2025.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s own stablecoin issuer, First Digital Trust, has just announced on Oct. 30 that it is expanding its First Digital USD to Solana as it seeks new ecosystems after rolling out products on Ethereum and BNB Chain.