Circle banks on $1 billion cash cushion to weather stablecoin race: Bloomberg

Quick Take

Circle’s $1 billion cash cushion is helping the firm weather increasing competition, according to Bloomberg News.

Jeremy Allaire says Circle is banking on $1 billion in cash reserves to weather decreasing market share and fresh competition from other stablecoins, CEO Jeremy Allaire told Bloomberg News.

Circle's total stablecoin supply has been shrinking since the beginning of the year, with its popular USDC hovering around $24 billion as of August, according to data from The Block. That's about a 43% decrease from the coin's $42 billion supply in January.

Allaire tied the declining levels to Binance's decision to move away from the stablecoin in favor of its own stablecoin BUSD in September of last year.

Supply of Tether's stablecoin USDT, meanwhile, has risen 18% in 2023 to $84 billion. New non-crypto native competitors like PayPal are also entering the ring.

"I expect you will see many many, not just internet payments firms, but also all kinds of financial services companies and others begin to get more involved in this,” Allaire told Bloomberg. “It’s great to have this new competition — I do think it’s going to drive more and more companies into the field.”