ICE Partners with Circle to Boost USDC in Finance

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the company that owns the New York Stock Exchange, has teamed up with Circle to bring USDC stablecoin into its platforms. 

Both companies announced the deal on Today, saying they signed a memorandum of understanding to explore how USDC can be used in clearinghouses, derivatives exchanges, and other financial services. 

Lynn Martin, president of the NYSE, believes stablecoins are the future of finance. “We believe Circle’s regulated stablecoins and tokenized digital currencies can play a larger role in capital markets as digital currencies become more trusted by market participants as an acceptable equivalent to the US dollar,” she said. 

The plan is to see how USDC can be used not just in crypto trading but also in traditional markets like bonds and money market funds.

Circle’s USDC is the second-largest stablecoin, right behind Tether’s USDT. But USDC has been growing fast. In the past three months, Circle minted $16.5 billion in new USDC, while only $4.7 billion in new USDT entered circulation. USDC now has a 25.4% market share, up from 20.7% just months ago. The partnership with ICE could help push USDC deeper into mainstream finance.

Jeremy Allaire, Circle’s CEO, sees this as a huge opportunity. “ICE’s reputation and global network across markets offer a unique pathway for Circle to integrate USDC into major new use cases, and we are thrilled for the opportunity to innovate together,” he said. USDC is already widely used, with over 600 million wallets supporting it worldwide.

Circle has also been making big moves in regulation. It was the first stablecoin issuer to comply with Europe’s MiCA rules, giving it an edge over Tether, which has been delisted from several European exchanges. In Japan, Circle recently got approval to launch USDC, and it’s already listed on SBI VC Trade, with more exchanges expected to follow.

Stablecoins are growing fast, and 2024 was a record year. They processed more transactions than Visa and Mastercard combined. The total stablecoin supply has now passed $200 billion, making up 1% of all U.S. dollars in circulation.