The Philippines’ largest digital wallet, GCash, has added support for Circle’s flagship stablecoin product, USDC.
The development increases the number of digital assets the platform supports through its crypto division, GCrypto, to 39. The addition of USDC support means that users now have access to another stablecoin, aside from PayPal’s PYUSD, within the GCash ecosystem.
The move also expands Circle’s stablecoin network. Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle, who announced the development in a recent X post, emphasized that the integration brings another 100 million users into Circle’s ecosystem.
Handling over $65 billion in transactions annually (3.8 trillion PHP), GCash is often compared to China’s Alipay and WeChat Pay. It is owned by a consortium including China’s Ant Group, Ayala Corporation, and 917Ventures (Globe Telecom’s venture arm). Its crypto services are offered through GCrypto, which operates in partnership with PDAX, a licensed local exchange.
This development comes amid growing stablecoin interest in the Philippines, especially within the remittance market, which saw record inflows of $38.3 billion in 2024, accounting for 8-10% of GDP. While stablecoins currently represent a small share of these transfers, GCash’s adoption could significantly accelerate usage.
Meanwhile, regulatory oversight on stablecoins is tightening in the United States. Ahead of a Senate Banking Committee vote on March 13, Senator Bill Hagerty introduced a revised version of his proposed regulation GENIUS Act to better strengthen consumer safeguards, reserve mandates, and compliance measures for stablecoin issuers.
The bill also imposes stricter requirements on non-U.S. stablecoin issuers, potentially giving an advantage to U.S.-based players like Circle and Ripple. Industry analysts believe this could raise regulatory barriers for foreign competitors while positioning American stablecoins more favourably in global markets.
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