Fireblocks Integrates Circle Payment Rails Into Its Platform

Circle’s Gateway and Circle Payments Network (CPN) are now natively accessible within Fireblocks’ stablecoin infrastructure, Fireblocks said in a Thursday (June 16) blog post.

Gateway gives Fireblocks customers access to a USDC Virtual Wallet that aggregates balances across supported chains into a single account and executes transfers directly. This means a single balance deploys in real time to any supported chain, incoming USDC gets deposited automatically into the Gateway balance, and cross-chain transfers execute without gas token dependency or destination chains, according to the post, which was written by Fireblocks Vice President Partnerships Brandon Goodwyn.

“This consolidation is material for customers managing USDC across three or more supported chains,” the post said. “Customers on fewer chains, or those primarily focused on cross-border fiat payouts, will find CPN is better suited for their needs.”

CPN, a global network of banks, payments services providers (PSPs) and virtual asset providers (VSPs), enables real-time USDC on-chain settlement to local fiat currency in more than 50 countries, according to the post.

Now that it’s accessible within Fireblocks, a payments company can send USDC from a Fireblocks wallet so that the recipient receives local fiat currency, with no correspondent bank in the flow, per the post.

“Capital that was sitting in pre-funded correspondent accounts is freed for operational use,” the post said. “Settlement that took days completes in minutes.”

With Gateway and CPN accessible within Fireblocks, Fireblocks serves as the control layer so that the transaction authorization policies governing the user’s other digital asset flows apply to Gateway transfers and CPN payouts, counterparty whitelists are enforced at the point of transfer, transfers above the user’s defined thresholds route through multiparty approval automatically, travel rule data is attached to qualifying transactions as part of the flow, and sanctions screening runs against the same policy used for other assets on the platform, per the post.

“Fireblocks customers can now reach 50+ countries for USDC-settled local fiat payouts—without leaving the environment where they already manage policy, compliance and approvals,” Spencer Spinnell, senior vice president, global payments and enterprise partnerships at Circle, said in the post.

PYMNTS reported in September that Circle and Fireblocks partnered to make it easier and safer for financial institutions to develop digital asset offerings. The companies said at the time in a press release that the combination of Circle’s stablecoin network and Fireblocks’ custody and payments infrastructure and network would provide cross-border treasury and tokenized asset settlement.