Circle, the issuer of the U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin USDC, is expanding its presence in the Philippines through a strategic partnership with Coins.ph, a prominent cryptocurrency exchange and digital wallet provider in the country.
According to an official press release, the partnership aims to drive awareness of USDC-denominated remittances as a secure, low-cost, and near-instant solution for international money transfers for Coins.ph's 18 million Filipino users. USDC is a regulated, fully-backed digital dollar (stablecoin) that operates 24/7, offers swift transactions, and is always redeemable 1:1 for U.S. dollars.
Given how the USDC stablecoin runs on global blockchains with minimal transaction costs, it has been increasingly seen as a viable solution for facilitating cross-border payments and remittances worldwide.
In 2022, the Philippines received a staggering $36.1 billion in remittances in 2022, according to data from the Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas (Central Bank of the Philippines). Despite this, however, traditional remittance channels often involve high fees and lengthy transaction times. The average cost of sending a $200 remittance to the Asian region in 2022 was 5.7%, per World Bank data. In the Philippines, where 44% of the adult population remains unbanked (2021 data), remittances pose even greater challenges.
To address these issues, Coins.ph and Circle claim that they are pushing forth with initiative that aim to spread awareness and foster educational communities that can engage a broader public which could then leverage USDC for remittances.
Wei Zhou, CEO of Coins.ph, emphasized the initiative's goal:
“Coins.ph’s partnership with Circle aims to show how USDC can provide a faster, lower-cost and more accessible remittance option for our 18 million Filipino users and their families and loved ones abroad," the executive said, adding that, through the firm's recent breakthroughs in Web3 stacks, these efforts show their commitment to "providing users’ access to innovative services that have a tangible impact on their everyday lives.”
USDC has gained global recognition as a trusted stablecoin, with applications ranging from delivering humanitarian aid to facilitating e-commerce, cross-border transactions, and supporting decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms.
Raagulan Pathy, Vice President for Asia Pacific for Circle, also commented on the partnership:
“By making cross-border transactions near real-time and dramatically reducing transaction costs, we support the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of reducing to less than 3 percent the transaction cost of migrant remittances by 2023."
Coins.ph began operations in the country in 2014, steadily becoming the country's top exchange by volume and assets held, with an average of $1 million in trades on a 24-hour basis. The platform provided services such as bills payment, and money transfers through its digital wallet. The exchange currently lists Circle's USDC across a number of offerings, with trading volumes for the stablecoin constituting roughly 13% of the total daily volume of Tether, its primary competitor in the space.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. The author has no influential stakes in any of the digital assets and securities mentioned, and does not have any significant hold of or own any cryptocurrency or token discussed, despite having worked in a limited capacity with some of the mentioned companies' requirements for content.
