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Stablecoin issuer Circle has partnered with Japanese financial services giant SBI Holdings to boost the circulation of its stablecoin, USD Coin (USDC), in Japan.
The collaboration will see the two firms jointly establishing a banking relationship around stablecoins and promoting the use of Web3 services in the Asian country.
As part of the partnership, one of SBI Holdings' units, SBI Shinsei Bank Ltd., will offer banking services to Circle, allowing Japanese customers to access USDC and its liquidity.
Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said the partnership is a significant milestone in the firm's expansion plans in Japan and the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.
The collaboration between the two firms came nearly five months after Japan put its new Payment Services Act into force, becoming one of the first nations to establish a legal framework for stablecoins.
The legislation legalizes stablecoins denominated in a legal tender to be issued and used as an electronic payment method.
The act also authorizes licensed financial institutions, such as licensed banks, registered money transfer agents, and trust companies, to issue stablecoins.
In July, Allaire announced Circle's plans to issue a stablecoin in Japan, nearly one month after he visited the country.
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USDC is currently the second-largest stablecoin by market cap behind Tether's USDT.
Stablecoins refer to cryptocurrencies whose value is pegged to another reference asset, mostly a fiat currency.
Customers generally use these assets to trade with different cryptocurrencies without converting their funds back into fiat currencies