Kraken and Circle Join Forces to Expand Stablecoin Access

Cryptocurrency platform Kraken has launched a partnership with stablecoin issuer Circle.

The collaboration is designed to expand access to and the utility of the USDC and EURC stablecoins — digital assets pegged to fiat currencies such as the U.S. dollar — on the Kraken platform, according to a Wednesday (Sept. 17) news release.

“Stablecoins are the financial layer most aligned with crypto’s original architecture. Permissionless, programmable, and global by default,” Mark Greenberg, global head of Kraken’s consumer business, said in the release.

“Expanding support for Circle’s products isn’t about ticking boxes. It’s about embedding new opportunities to benefit from Circle’s stablecoins into products our clients already use and trust.”

According to the release, the partnership is aimed at bolstering the “responsible growth of stablecoins” as the central infrastructure for the new online financial system. That means Kraken clients get new opportunities to deploy Circle’s USDC across Kraken’s applications, while Kraken will also introduce access to EURC, Circle’s euro-denominated stablecoin.

“We’re focused on building the world’s largest, most widely used stablecoin network, and partnering with leading platforms, like Kraken, to drive new opportunities for onchain finance,” said Kash Razzaghi, Circle’s chief commercial officer.

“Expanding access to Circle’s products across Kraken’s established ecosystem can help extend the benefits of stablecoins to their millions of users.”

In other stablecoin news, PYMNTs spoke earlier this week with Bryce Jurss, vice president, head of Americas, digital assets at Nuvei, about the digital assets’ emergence as a foundational layer for B2B payments.

“It’s been accelerating a lot in the last few years, especially this year with new regulations coming in the U.S. and prior year in the EU,” Jurss said. “That guidance has helped really shape blockchain as an infrastructure and stablecoins on that blockchain infrastructure.”

But in spite of this momentum, there are still some misunderstandings about what this technology can and cannot do.

“One misconception is around the idea that stablecoins magically fix all of these problems that have traditionally made it difficult to do cross-border payments,” Jurss said. “I don’t think that’s necessarily true” because, in some cases, costs can even rise.

“The encouraging part is that there’s been a real kind of product market fit around payments and stablecoins,” he added. “The real opportunity isn’t about chasing the buzzwords, but it’s more about being disciplined, identifying where stablecoins truly outperform a so-called legacy payment system.”