Jeremy Allaire, CEO of USDC stablecoin issuer Circle, said Hong Kong is becoming an increasingly important payments market as stablecoins become an important part of the infrastructure.
“In emerging and developing markets… you have importers that are importing from Asia, and a lot of the trade flows are cleared through Hong Kong,” Allaire told The Post on Day 2 of 2024 Hong Kong FinTech Week. said in an interview. Tuesday. “We’re seeing this demand from both sides…Companies are like, ‘This is better, it’s faster, it’s cheaper.'”
The world’s second-largest stablecoin issuer pegged to the US dollar held its first Circle Forum on Tuesday at the Four Seasons Hotel in Hong Kong. Alongside the event, the company announced two new partnerships. A memorandum of understanding with Hong Kong Telecom (HKT) to explore blockchain-based loyalty solutions and a collaboration with Thunes to support the settlement of cross-border transactions in USDC.
In addition to tokenization being a key theme at this year’s FinTech Week, stablecoins and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) will play a key role in the next phase of Hong Kong’s Web3 push after momentum in the crypto space slows. is expected to fulfill the requirements. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority plans to introduce new stablecoin regulations by the end of the year, and Circle is positioning itself as a responsible player ready to comply with various regulatory regimes around the world.
“What I want to say is that we are, and always have been, a global regulatory guinea pig for stablecoins in that we are a regulated player. ,” Allaire said. “In our view, this will be a regulated financial infrastructure anywhere in the world.”
Hong Kong FinTech Week 2024 kicked off on October 28 with a focus on artificial intelligence and tokenization. Photo: Matt Haldane
Speaking at FinTech Week on Monday, Allaire said Circle envisions a “global network of stablecoins supporting the on-chain economy.” While some see CBDCs as having the potential to play a key role in more streamlined cross-border payment processes, Allaire said stablecoins are already on track to play this role. . China has the largest CBDC project to date, but it is still in the early stages.
