Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said the company sees its dollar-pegged stablecoin as neutral financial infrastructure driven by network effects, rather than as a product designed to compete with established payment providers.

Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Allaire said Circle does not regard card networks such as Visa or Mastercard as rivals, describing them instead as “significant partners.”

Allaire characterized stablecoins as “network effect businesses,” where adoption grows as more developers and institutions integrate them. He added that Circle operates as a “neutral company” that does not compete directly with banks, payment firms or exchanges, and noted that the longer-term impact of stablecoins is still uncertain.

“Over time, the cost of storing and moving money around goes to zero. In that future world, where AI agents are doing the money movement, it’s going to be hard to know exactly what the payment business model is over that period of time.”

Regulation and Circle’s market position

When asked about the stalled Digital Asset Markets Clarity bill in the US, Allaire said there is clear bipartisan interest in advancing the legislation this year. He noted that the bill goes beyond stablecoins to address the broader role of digital tokens in capital markets, an area of shared interest for both traditional financial institutions and cryptocurrency companies.

Circle is the issuer of USDC, the second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization. The company went public in June 2025, pricing its initial public offering at $31 per share before opening at $69. The stock later climbed to a high of $263.45 in late May before retreating to around $72, according to Yahoo Finance.

Competition intensifies in the stablecoin market

The rapid growth of stablecoins has also drawn in new competitors. In March, reports indicated that Fidelity Investments was nearing the final testing phase of a US dollar–pegged stablecoin, which the $5.8 trillion asset manager plans to launch through its Fidelity Digital Assets unit. About a month later, Stripe said it was developing a dollar-backed stablecoin for companies outside the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe, powered by Bridge.

Crypto payments firm MoonPay has also announced plans to introduce a US dollar–backed stablecoin aimed at everyday transactions, with a launch targeted for early 2026. According to DefiLlama, the total stablecoin market capitalization stood at $309 billion on Thursday. USDC accounts for roughly $74.2 billion of that total, placing it second behind Tether’s USDT, which remains the largest issuer with about $186.7 billion in circulation.

Sources:

https://cointelegraph.com/news/circle-ceo-usdc-neutral-layer-banks-visa-mastercad

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyFi4YXQj2Q

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/CRCL/

https://defillama.com/stablecoins