Ant Group Reportedly Plans to Add Circle’s Stablecoin to Blockchain

Chinese FinTech company Ant Group reportedly plans to add Circle’s USDC stablecoin to its blockchain platform after the coin becomes compliant in the United States.

The timeline for the move has not been determined, but the companies are working to make it happen, Bloomberg reported Thursday (July 10), citing unnamed sources.

Neither Ant Group nor Circle immediately replied to PYMNTS’ request for comment.

The collaboration comes as Circle benefits from the growing acceptance of stablecoins in the U.S., highlighted by Circle’s initial public offering (IPO) and the Senate’s passage of a stablecoin bill, per the report.

The partnership also comes at a time when Ant Group’s global unit, Ant International, is adding more regulated cryptocurrencies to its blockchain to support services like treasury management and cross-border payments, the report said.

It was reported Wednesday (July 9) that Ant International is “seriously considering” stablecoin license applications in several countries.

Ant International Global Manager of Platform Tech Kelvin Li said at a conference in Singapore that with this effort, the organization will be focusing on global payments, not crypto transactions.

“We believe stablecoins are an important means that will enable us to provide global payments in [a] much more efficient way and bring much better customer experience,” Li said.

Circle Internet Group CEO Jeremy Allaire said June 13 that the stablecoin issuer sees “tremendous opportunities” to collaborate with a range of companies, including technology firms, payments companies and financial institutions.

“It’s a tremendous opportunity as the world connects to this new form of currency on the internet,” Allaire said.

Circle said Wednesday that it partnered with OKX to enable the 60 million users of that company’s crypto app to more easily convert U.S. dollars to USDC stablecoins and back on a one-to-one basis.

In June, Circle and OpenPayd partnered to offer global businesses a unified fiat and stablecoin infrastructure layer, saying the solution will allow OpenPayd’s enterprise clients to use traditional banking rails and blockchain-based networks to move and manage money globally.

During the same month, Circle and Ripple teamed up to bring the USDC stablecoin to the XRP Ledger (XRPL) blockchain.