Circle Ventures Partners with Crossmint to Expand USDC Blockchain Support

TLDR

• Circle Ventures partnered with Crossmint to expand USDC availability across multiple blockchains
• The partnership aims to serve both human users and AI agents with improved stablecoin infrastructure
• People in high-inflation countries like Argentina and Colombia are increasingly using stablecoins
• Tether (USDT) remains the dominant stablecoin with $173B market cap versus USDC’s $74.1B
• Crossmint also announced a partnership with payments-focused blockchain Tempo

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Circle Ventures, the venture capital arm of stablecoin issuer Circle, has formed a partnership with crypto infrastructure firm Crossmint. The collaboration aims to expand the reach of USDC stablecoin across more blockchain networks, targeting billions of users including AI agents.

Crossmint announced the partnership on Wednesday, stating that by combining their wallets and APIs for stablecoin onramps with USDC, they are “laying the foundation for a new era of finance.” The company emphasized that this new financial era would feature near-instant money movement, global access, and systems built for both humans and machines.

The support for AI agents comes at a time when many industry experts predict these automated systems will become major players in the crypto ecosystem. Two Coinbase development team members, Kevin Leffew and Lincoln Murr, suggested that AI agents will use stablecoins for various purposes.

These uses could include paying for self-driving taxis and publishing content on demand. The developers also noted that apps might automatically use stablecoins to store data permanently on blockchain networks.

Stablecoins as Financial Lifelines

In countries with unstable economies and high inflation, stablecoins have become an essential tool for preserving wealth. Argentina serves as a prime example, where many residents visit “crypto caves” to purchase US dollar stablecoins.

These transactions help Argentinians escape strict currency controls and protect their money from the country’s high inflation rate. The value protection that stablecoins offer has made them popular in several developing economies.

MoneyGram recently announced the launch of its crypto payments app in Colombia. The app uses Crossmint’s infrastructure and self-custody solution to offer locals a way to receive and store USDC as an alternative to the weakening Colombian peso.

This expansion is part of a larger strategy to provide stablecoin access to MoneyGram’s existing customer base. The company currently serves over 50 million customers across more than 190 countries, creating potential for widespread stablecoin adoption through Crossmint’s technology.

Market Competition

Despite Circle’s expansion efforts with USDC, Tether’s USDT remains the market leader among stablecoins. According to CoinGecko data, USDT has recorded nearly $100 billion in trading volume in a 24-hour period, which is almost ten times more than USDC’s $10.3 billion.

The market capitalization figures show a similar disparity. USDT holds a $173 billion market cap, which is more than double USDC’s $74.1 billion. This suggests that despite new partnerships, Circle faces strong competition in the stablecoin market.

In June, the USDT supply on the Tron network exceeded $80 billion. Tether’s popularity on this network stems from its fast and low-cost transfers, making it well-suited for sending digital dollars in developing countries.

Crossmint has been active in forming strategic partnerships. Earlier this week, the company announced another collaboration with the team behind Tempo, a layer-1 blockchain focused on payments.

Tempo was incubated by payments infrastructure platform Stripe, which processed over $1.4 trillion in volume in 2024, and crypto investment firm Paradigm. This partnership represents part of Crossmint’s broader push to drive stablecoin adoption across different platforms.

The expansion of stablecoin infrastructure through these partnerships points to growing interest in digital dollar alternatives across both developed and developing economies.

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