Circle introduces USDC in Brazil and Mexico through local payment systems

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Circle today announced that it has expanded access to its flagship product, the US Dollar Coin (USDC), in Brazil and Mexico through their national real-time payment systems PIX and SPEI. The move aims to make USDC more accessible, faster and cheaper for businesses and consumers in these Latin American markets.

The company has partnered with leading banks in both countries to enable the direct conversion of their local fiat currencies, Brazilian Real (BRL) and Mexican Pesos (MXN), to USDC. This eliminates the need for international wire transfers, drastically reducing transaction time and costs, Circle said.

“Businesses can now access USDC – the world’s largest regulated digital dollar* – directly from local financial institutions in two G20 economies, without the need to transfer funds to an overseas bank. They can use USDC for their own corporate purposes and offer it as an option to their own retail customers,” Circle noted.

This integration is particularly beneficial for Latin American businesses involved in cross-border trade, as USDC can be used for transactions in dollar-denominated markets. In addition, it offers a more cost-effective alternative to traditional remittances, which often involve high fees.

Circle’s expansion into Brazil and Mexico is part of its broader strategy to make USDC more accessible globally. The company plans to further expand its partnerships with banks and payment systems around the world to meet the growing demand for digital currencies.

The latest development comes shortly after Circle and Sony Block Solutions Labs announced a partnership to bring USDC to Soneium, Sony’s Ethereum layer-2 blockchain. The two entities aim to make the stablecoin a primary token for value exchanges on the platform.

USDC holds nearly 28% of the USD-pegged Ethereum stablecoin market share and is the sixth largest crypto asset with a market cap of $35.5 billion as of September 16.

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