Circle CEO Urges Industry to Keep Dollar Stablecoins 'On Shore'

The Circle CEO’s latest call to action is a heady mix of fear, optimism, and Americana.

“Let's build on-chain dollars that are a powerful developer primitive, money lego bricks, that embrace the multichain, dynamic world of DeFi,” he tweeted, adding “Let’s build this on shore.”

Resharing a recent video ad, Jeremy Allaire is found humbly enjoying a coffee in a typical American diner. “What does a cup of coffee have to do with the future of the global economy,” he asks. He then flits through crypto's ability to “fundamentally change the way we pay for things,” from buying coffee to shipping containers and everything in between.

The only thing that hasn’t caught up with the pace of technology? Money. And, per Allaire, the dollar in particular.

“In today’s global economy, the dollar’s position of strength is under threat,” he said, asking if the United States wants “dollars to be the foundation of currency on the internet or digital euros or yuans?”

Digital Euro Will Have ‘Maximum Level of Privacy’—But Not as Much as Cash: ECB Board Member

The digital euro will aim to “complement” cash and mimic its best features, a European central banker has told lawmakers, but it may not afford the same level of privacy. Appearing before the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs at the European Parliament on Monday, Fabio Panetta emphasized that there was no intention “whatsoever” to withdraw cash as a means of payment in the Eurozone. “We would not deprive [citizens] of any option,” he said. “The options that are available today for them...

Allaire has been on a mission to regulate stablecoins like Circle’s USDC or his main competition USDT–not to mention PayPal’s newly brandished PYUSD–in the United States.

But he’s been met with stiff opposition (or at a minimum, mixed signals) from U.S. regulators.

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren has led much of the anti-crypto charge of late, and two days ago reintroduced a bill that would, among other rules, force crypto users to report any transactions over $10,000.

Digital Yuan Now Has More than 20 Million Wallets: Chinese Central Bank

The Chinese central bank’s digital yuan pilot is slowly picking up steam. According to a progress report published today, the People's Bank of China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC)—a digital version of a fiat currency—now has more than 20 million wallets and has processed 35.5 billion RMB ($5.4 billion) worth of transactions. The new currency is the world’s largest CBDC project. It will complement, but not replace, regular cash, since paper money is still useful for many in the hugely div...

Adding to the mix, the Federal Reserve issued a statement on Tuesday, outlining potential new guidelines for banks dealing with dollar-pegged stablecoins, like Allaire’s USDC.

The U.S. central bank is looking to monitor all transactions, implement reversible transactions, and ramp up the rules for crypto companies.

Interestingly, and despite today’s ad, which features another push for regulatory clarity on stablecoins, Circle’s CEO was in the news earlier this week claiming that only 30% of USDC adoption comes from within the United States.