Circle launches 24/7 stablecoin FX engine as it chases a slice of the $10 trillion currency market

Circle has switched on 24-hour stablecoin foreign-exchange settlement on Arc, targeting a global FX market that moves nearly $10 trillion daily.The service, called StableFX, allows screened businesses to request competing quotes from multiple liquidity providers and settle both sides of a stablecoin currency trade simultaneously on Circle’s newly launched blockchain. Users can choose near-instant settlement or defer completion to an agreed window, extending institutional FX activity beyond conventional banking hours.Circle said much of the global currency market still relies on infrastructure designed around banking schedules even as payments, crypto trading and digital commerce increasingly operate continuously. StableFX is its attempt to move part of that market onto programmable settlement rails.The system separates trade execution from settlement. Businesses submit a currency pair, amount, and preferred settlement window through a request-for-quote process, allowing approved liquidity providers to compete for the order. Execution happens off-chain before counterparties fund a smart-contract escrow on Arc.Settlement then occurs on a payment-versus-payment basis: both stablecoin ...