Circle has announced that it will officially launch its stablecoin in Japan on March 26, following regulatory approval granted to one of its local partners to list the U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin three weeks earlier.

In a March 24 statement, Circle said USDC will debut on the “SBI VC Trade” crypto exchange through a joint venture between SBI Holdings — a major Japanese financial group — and Circle’s local subsidiary, Circle Japan KK.

This announcement follows the March 4 regulatory approval granted to SBI VC Trade, marking the first time Japan’s Financial Services Agency has approved the listing of USDC under the country’s stablecoin regulations.

Circle also plans to expand USDC availability to other major Japanese exchanges, including Binance Japan, bitbank, and bitFlyer.

bitbank and bitFlyer are among Japan’s top crypto exchanges, having each processed over $25 million in trading volume in the past 24 hours, and drawing more than 1.85 million site visits over the last month.

Circle’s Jeremy Allaire noted in a March 24 X post that the regulatory milestone came after two years of discussions with regulators, banking institutions, and industry participants.

“[This] unlocks tremendous opportunities not just in trading digital assets, but more broadly in payments, cross border finance and commerce, FX,” he added.

SBI Holdings CEO and president Yoshitaka Kitao commented that launching USDC in Japan will boost financial inclusion and support crypto-related innovation:

“[This aligns] with our broader vision for the future of payments and blockchain-based finance in Japan.”

Separately, Circle’s USDC and its euro-backed EURC were recognized on February 24 as the first stablecoins approved under the Dubai Financial Services Authority’s new framework.

This designation allows businesses within the Dubai International Financial Centre — a special economic zone — to use the two stablecoins for various digital asset functions, including payments, treasury operations, and other services.

According to CoinGecko, USDC currently ranks as the second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization at $59.7 billion, behind USDT, which stands at $143.8 billion.

Sources:

https://cointelegraph.com/news/circle-launch-stablecoin-usdc-japan-march-26

https://www.circle.com/pressroom/circle-strengthens-commitment-to-japan-with-new-investment-and-expanded-usdc-access

https://www.sbivc.co.jp/newsview/9ne-b0_5yo

https://x.com/jerallaire/status/1904303244240896418

https://www.coingecko.com/en/categories/stablecoins