Circle CEO: Yuan Stablecoin Could Boost Global Payments

Jeremy Allaire, chief executive of Circle, said in Hong Kong on Thursday that a yuan-backed stablecoin could expand cross-border payments and estimated China could issue one in three to five years despite bans on most private renminbi-linked tokens.

Allaire described stablecoins as a way for China to “export” its currency by making cross-border transactions easier as digital money becomes more integrated into trade and finance. He called the market opportunity for a yuan-linked token “tremendous.”

In February, the People’s Bank of China and seven other agencies declared unauthorized offshore issuance of yuan-pegged stablecoins illegal and said tokenization of domestic real-world assets would face stricter vetting. Authorities framed the measures as steps to protect financial stability, reduce capital flight and safeguard monetary sovereignty while promoting the central bank digital currency e-CNY.

Those actions followed a 2021 prohibition on crypto trading and mining and a November 2025 warning from the central bank that it would increase scrutiny of stablecoins. The February notice effectively halted most offshore issuance of RMB-linked tokens and limited the tokenization of Chinese assets without prior approval.

The market remains dominated by dollar-backed stablecoins. Circle reported USDC circulation rose 72% year on year to $75.3 billion at the end of 2025. Allaire noted “several billion dollars” of additional USDC transactions flowed after the outbreak of the US-Iran war. A 2025 market report found dollar-pegged tokens made up about 99.8% of fiat-denominated stablecoins.

China is prioritizing a state-issued digital yuan, the e-CNY, while many international firms and financial services continue to use private stablecoins for cross-border transfers and liquidity. Allaire estimated a three- to five-year timeframe for a possible yuan-backed private stablecoin rollout.