Jeremy Allaire, cofounder and CEO of Circle, at the Paris Blockchain Week summit in Paris, France, on April 9, 2024. Photographer: Nathan Laine/Bloomberg
© 2023 Bloomberg Finance LP
Intercontinental Exchange (ICE)—the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, which reported revenues of $9.3 billion in 2024 and has a market capitalization of $101 billion—has signed a memorandum of understanding with Circle, issuer of the world’s second-largest stablecoin, to explore integrating Circle’s products into its trading and clearing empire.
Stablecoins are digital tokens designed to maintain stable value, typically pegged to fiat currencies such as the U.S. dollar.
Under the agreement, ICE will evaluate using Circle’s flagship product, $60 billion (market cap) USDC, and US Yield Coin (USYC) across its derivatives exchanges, clearinghouses and data services to develop new markets and products. The latter was launched by Hashnote, a Miami-based firm Circle acquired in January, and offers a yield of 3.8%, backed by short-duration U.S. Treasury bills and repo/reverse repo activities.
“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 U.S. Dollar,” said Lynn Martin, President of the New York Stock Exchange, in an announcement shared with Forbes.
Stablecoins are on a tear. Tether’s $144 billion behemoth, USDT, may command the spotlight, but the real draw is how these tokens have transformed from a convenient tool for crypto traders to a popular medium for fast and cost-effective cross-border payments. By February, stablecoins had amassed a combined market value of $214 billion and handled a staggering $35 trillion in annual transfers—double Visa’s throughput, according to data from Dune and Artemis.
Traditional finance is taking note. Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan recently stated that the bank is prepared to roll out its own stablecoin if Congress signs off on the regulations. Fidelity is already tinkering with a stablecoin under its digital assets division, which currently offers custody and trading for bitcoin, ether and litecoin.
Driving the hype is a legislative push championed by the Trump administration, which sees stablecoins as a key way to maintain the U.S. dollar’s global dominance. Two major bills making the rounds in Congress are anticipated to bring stablecoins a clear regulatory framework. Fittingly, World Liberty Financial, a crypto project in which the Trump family has already reaped at least $400 million, said on Tuesday it also plans to launch a stablecoin, backed by U.S. Treasurys, dollars and other cash equivalents.
