Author: Mastercard
Translation: Felix, PANews
Circle is best known for its stablecoin USDC, which currently has a circulating market cap of over $77 billion, making it one of the largest stablecoins in the world. But Circle’s ambitions go far beyond that.
Circle is working to build the necessary infrastructure to make blockchain payments and financial services truly accessible to everyday users. To this end, Circle offers developer tools, the Circle Payment Network, and its self-developed blockchain Arc, aiming to provide blockchain-based payment capabilities for nearly all companies.
Kash Razzaghi, Chief Business Officer responsible for advancing these partnerships and strategies, said: “We are building an internet finance platform that can genuinely help promote and accelerate the flow of funds onto the chain.”
The shift of financial infrastructure to blockchain is expected to make capital movement faster, cheaper, and more transparent. He noted that the task of driving the evolution of the entire payment ecosystem is too great for any single entity to accomplish alone. Therefore, Circle collaborates with multiple companies, including Mastercard, to promote the use and acceptance of stablecoins worldwide. It is reported that Mastercard launched a new cryptocurrency partnership program this week, with Circle joining the initiative.
“This requires the collective effort of the entire community,” Razzaghi added. “Mastercard’s involvement greatly enhances the credibility of this technology and demonstrates the future development potential of the industry.”
Shortly after returning from the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, Razzaghi was interviewed by Mastercard. At Davos, he engaged with professionals from finance and financial services sectors, aiming to attract more people to join the growing blockchain community.
The following Q&A has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
How do you view the current volatile cryptocurrency market?
The market is turbulent, which is to be expected. Cryptocurrencies have been closely associated with speculation for most of their development. But what excites us is that they are moving away from this. I don’t believe trading and speculation will completely disappear—that’s not the point—but rather, an evolution from speculation to infrastructure. Have we experienced periods of crypto speculation boom? Yes. Have we seen turbulent times in crypto speculation? Yes. These cycles have always existed. If some people exit, others will buy in—that’s natural.
At Davos, what blockchain-related topics did you hear about?
The discussions mainly focused on infrastructure, and how blockchain technology and digital assets can solve real-world problems or enhance capital flow, value storage, and access to financial systems and tools. That was the refreshing aspect of this year’s Davos forum. As regulations clear the way for institutional participation, the advantages of infrastructure become more apparent. This is not about speculation but about how to leverage this technology to transfer billions or even trillions of dollars instantly, securely, and at low cost, and how to upgrade a financial system and infrastructure that has seen little change in nearly 75 years.
The consensus is that the entire ecosystem will benefit. Blockchain will help companies operating in financial infrastructure, markets, or services to grow their business and offer better services. For a long time, people have debated whether “blockchain technology will replace banks? Will it replace credit card networks? Will it replace this or that?” But that’s not the case.
What’s truly refreshing is that industry participants are also focusing on this. All banks, financial institutions, traditional exchanges, and card organizations are actively embracing this technology because they expect the cost of transferring funds to approach zero, while transfer speeds will significantly increase.
If we are to overhaul the financial system, what should companies like Mastercard do? We’ve already established partnerships—how can both sides achieve mutual benefits? How can our work benefit consumers and small businesses?
What is Mastercard’s core value? It’s trust, right? You’ve built a global trust network. I personally hold a Mastercard. When I swipe my card, merchants can be assured that the funds will be received, with Mastercard providing support behind the scenes. In my view, the importance of trust will never disappear. I believe Mastercard’s involvement is not only about maintaining and strengthening trust but also about providing more advanced technology for transactions. You make transactions more convenient, more accessible, and eliminate barriers and middlemen. You are reducing friction, and over time, it may become more cost-effective.
Circle’s benefit lies in the widespread adoption of stablecoins and digital assets. We foresee a future where on-chain capital flows will be more efficient. Of course, there is still much work to be done in infrastructure, regulation, and compliance—we are not there yet. When Mastercard truly begins to build on-chain business and leverages on-chain products to serve its customers, it will accelerate the adoption of digital assets.
What are the main current use cases for stablecoins?
There are three main use cases today. In terms of adoption, usage, and growth, the primary application of stablecoins is trading and investing. If you are involved in digital asset investing and hold Bitcoin, Ethereum, or other digital assets, using USDC for investment is a very good choice because you can buy and sell these assets at any time and hold value in a stable currency like USDC.
The next two use cases, though not as large as trading and investing, are rapidly growing, and we believe the next phase of growth and real-world application will come from these areas. Among them, payments (especially cross-border payments) is a significant use case. Whether you are an institution or an overseas expatriate, if you need to transfer funds from one country to another or want to easily move funds from one wallet to another, stablecoins are an excellent option. Transferring funds on the blockchain can eliminate intermediaries, reducing fees. Settlement times can be shortened from days or weeks to seconds or minutes. We see a significant increase in capital flows across industries. Even large institutions need to transfer funds from Singapore to New York, and now (they) can use stablecoins, no longer limited by bank operating hours. We believe the scope of payment applications will far exceed cross-border payments and will expand to all aspects of payments.
The third application is as a store of value, mainly in countries suffering from currency devaluation, such as Iran, or Venezuela and Argentina. These countries face hyperinflation, and people no longer trust their national currencies, preferring to hold US dollars as a hedge.
We believe that the functions of payments and value storage will accelerate this trend, causing the overall market cap of stablecoins to far surpass today’s levels.
When do you think stablecoins will be widely accepted by mainstream markets?
Some believe that only when stablecoins and the underlying technology become so integrated into the infrastructure that people don’t even realize they are holding stablecoins—thinking they are holding dollars and sending dollars—will mainstream adoption truly happen. We often compare it to visiting a website and typing HTTP; most people don’t understand the technology behind it—they just know they are sending an email. This kind of “mainstreaming” does exist, and at that point, the underlying architecture of stablecoins will be fully simplified to on-chain distribution.
You are the founder of a sports social platform. You previously worked at the video software platform Brightcove. You also did custom clothing. How do these experiences help you in your current role?
Career paths are not linear. You benefit from luck and timing, but also from the expertise you accumulate, which helps you face future challenges. Looking back at my career, you’ll see it spans fashion, sports companies, video distribution, and cryptocurrency. So, what is the common thread? Entrepreneurship, market expansion, business development, sales. I love creating. I am mission-driven. I enjoy solving problems that can truly impact many people.
Therefore, when I joined Circle six years ago, I wasn’t the so-called “most knowledgeable in the native crypto space.” I’m not a crypto expert, but once you understand what this technology can do, you get inspired by it and driven by its mission.
Related reading: Circle’s turning point: stock doubles, on-chain transactions outpace USDT, precise positioning in Agent payments
