Ant Group to Adopt Circle’s USDC Stablecoin on Its Blockchain, Expanding Global Payments Network

Ant Group's international division, supported by Alibaba founder Jack Ma, plans to integrate Circle's USDC stablecoin into its proprietary blockchain. The launch is pending certification from U.S. regulators under new federal guidelines, as reported by Bloomberg.

This integration WOULD link USDC to a network that handled over $1 trillion in global payments last year, with one-third settled on-chain. This move could establish Ant Group as the largest overseas corporate user of a U.S.-issued stablecoin.

Ant International is seeking stablecoin licenses in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Luxembourg. The platform intends to support regulated digital dollars, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and tokenized bank deposits simultaneously.

Currently, Ant's blockchain facilitates tokenized assets from various financial institutions and has partnered with the People's Bank of China on the digital yuan initiative. Following this announcement, Circle's stock saw a nearly 3.8% increase in pre-market trading.