Overview
- Circle and LianLian Global announced a partnership on December 17 to evaluate USDC for faster, lower-cost international payments through technical integrations and pilots, not an immediate product launch.
- The work targets high-volume cross-border flows and modernization of treasury and settlement for merchants and digital platforms, with an emphasis on reliability and transparency.
- LianLian Global serves about 7.9 million customers and holds more than 65 regulatory approvals, including U.S. money transmitter licenses in all 50 states and a Major Payment Institution license from Singapore’s MAS.
- The effort will leverage Circle’s Arc blockchain, which launched a public testnet in October with LianLian among participants, and the Circle Payments Network, now active in eight countries with 29 enrolled institutions and a $3.4 billion annualized volume as of November 7.
- Regulatory tailwinds cited by the companies include the U.S. GENIUS Act, Circle’s EU MiCA compliance, and Circle’s OCC federal banking charter granted on December 12, which together support regulated stablecoin payment use cases.