Circle Launches Stablecoin-Powered Cross-Border Payments Network

The Circle Payments Network (CPN) announced in April is now live, Circle said in a Wednesday (May 21) blog post.

Designed to facilitate the use of stablecoins for mainstream cross-border payments, this network and coordination protocol enables financial institutions to exchange payment instructions and settling transactions on open, public blockchains, according to the post.

CPN supports B2B supplier payments, cross-border remittances, treasury and global cash consolidations, recurring enterprise payments, and payroll and mass disbursements, per the post.

Early adopters of CPN include Alfred Pay, which is using the network to enable stablecoin-to-fiat offramps via PIX and SPEI; Tazapay, which is using it to support compliant fiat disbursements into Hong Kong; RedotPay, which is using the network to initiate USDC-based payments into Brazil; and Conduit, which is using it to onramp fiat into USDC in the U.S. and Europe to support B2B flows into Mexico, according to the post.

“The launch of CPN represents a leap forward for global payments infrastructure toward an architecture where interoperability, compliance, speed and cost-efficiency are emphasized,” Circle said in the post. “We are just getting started. As more institutions integrate with CPN, we look forward to powering new use cases, andadvancing this new standard for global value exchange.”

Circle, the FinTech firm behind the USDC and EURC stablecoins, said April 21 that it planned to start rolling out CPN in May, connecting financial institutions and enabling real-time settlement of cross-border payments using USDC, EURC and other regulated stablecoins.

“Since our founding, Circle’s vision has been to make moving money as simple and efficient as sending an email, Circle Co-founder, Chairman and CEO Jeremy Allaire said at the time in a press release. “CPN is a significant step in making that vision a reality for businesses worldwide.

Stablecoins have started to decouple themselves from crypto exchanges and position themselves as a component of real-world financial infrastructure, PYMNTS reported in March.

Cross-border payments stand as one of the most promising use cases for stablecoins because they promise a faster and cheaper alternative to traditional international transactions.

Traditional cross-border payment methods are often plagued by slow speeds, lack of transparency and high costs, according to the PYMNTS Intelligence and Citi collaboration, “The Treasury Management Playbook: Spotlight on Cross-Border Payments.”