The plumbing of global finance is more than fifty years old — and it’s finally showing its age. In early 1973, Two Hundred Thirty-Nine banks from around the world joined forces to create the “Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication”, better known as SWIFT. At the time, it was revolutionary: a standardized messaging system that let banks transfer money across borders with unprecedented reliability. The catch? Transfers took up to five days to settle. In 1973, that felt like lightning. Today, it feels like waiting for the Pony Express.
The First Wave of Alternatives
But the world didn’t wait for the major banks to get together again. The internet rewired consumer expectations, and a new generation of payment innovators began building alternatives to SWIFT’s aging rails. The first version of the PayPal electronic payments system was launched in 1999 by Peter Thiel and others. In March 1999, he was joined by Elon Musk and others. PayPal lets ordinary people send money digitally without touching a bank wire (or paying the bank’s exorbitant fees). Then, in 2005, came Payoneer, built for freelancers and global businesses. Popmoney — an acronym for “Pay Other People Money” — launched in 2010 as a bank-to-bank peer-to-peer service that eventually gave way to Zelle. XE and others tackled international currency conversion. Each solution chipped away at friction, but none fundamentally replaced the underlying infrastructure.
The Stablecoin Revolution
Now something more disruptive is taking shape: stablecoins.
The stablecoin market has exploded from roughly $28 billion in 2020 to over $300 billion today, with more than 236 million holders worldwide. Citi estimates the market could reach $1.9 trillion by 2030 — a figure that would make stablecoins a major force in the global monetary system, not just a crypto curiosity. There are now over 100 different stablecoins in circulation, including the dominant Tether (USDT) and a growing roster of regulated alternatives.
Circle and the New Infrastructure
At the center of this shift is Circle, the company behind USD Coin (USDC) and Euro Coin (EURC). Unlike earlier stablecoins that operated in regulatory gray zones, Circle has built compliance into its DNA. When the GENIUS Act passed — bringing long-awaited federal clarity to stablecoin issuance — Circle was already positioned to benefit. The company had been meeting those standards before they were law.
Circle’s infrastructure goes well beyond issuing a digital dollar. Its Circle Payments Network (CPN) connects banks and financial institutions directly, enabling them to move value across borders in seconds rather than days. Underpinning cross-chain interoperability is Circle’s Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP), which allows USDC to move seamlessly between different blockchains without the security risks of traditional bridges. The result is a payments layer that is faster, cheaper, and more transparent than the SWIFT-era system it is quietly beginning to displace.
Circle’s Competitive Landscape
Circle doesn’t operate in a vacuum. The stablecoin space is crowded and getting more so, with competitors ranging from crypto natives to Wall Street giants.
Tether (USDT) — The 800-Pound Gorilla
Together, Tether and Circle account for roughly 87% of the entire stablecoin market. Tether dominates by market cap with around $153 billion in circulation, but its offshore base and limited reserve disclosure keep many corporations at arm’s length. USDC overtook USDT in transaction volume in early 2026, and USDC has now outpaced USDT in growth for two consecutive years — driven by institutional preference for audited, compliant reserves. Tether recently launched a U.S.-focused token called USAT, though its market cap remains tiny and it’s unclear whether Tether intends it as a serious USDC challenger. See our article on Tether for more on Tether’s actual reserves.
Stripe — The Most Dangerous Competitor
Stripe is not a stablecoin issuer — it’s something more formidable: the payment infrastructure that already powers 90% of Dow Jones companies and 80% of the Nasdaq 100. Founded in 2010 by Irish brothers John and Patrick Collison, Stripe processed $1.9 trillion in total payment volume in 2025 alone. What makes Stripe a direct threat to Circle is its aggressive stablecoin pivot. In 2025, it acquired Bridge, a stablecoin orchestration platform, for $1.1 billion — and Bridge’s volume more than quadrupled that same year. Stripe already accepts USDC payments, then went further and built its own blockchain, called Tempo, purpose-built for payments with sub-second finality and opt-in privacy. Patrick Collison has called stablecoins “room-temperature superconductors for financial services.” Circle is building the pipes; Stripe is building everything around them — and it already owns the customers.
PayPal USD (PYUSD)
PayPal launched its own dollar-backed stablecoin backed by hundreds of millions of existing users. PYUSD ranks among the largest dollar-linked tokens alongside USDC and USDT. PayPal’s edge is consumer reach; Circle’s edge is institutional trust and compliance infrastructure.
Paxos (USDP) and BVNK
Paxos and BVNK are carving out specialized niches in the stablecoin space. Paxos has deep fintech roots and regulatory standing, while BVNK targets business payment flows specifically.
Big Banks Moving In — The Emerging Threat
This is arguably Circle’s biggest long-term challenge. Citigroup has partnered with Coinbase to test stablecoin-based payment rails, while JPMorgan and Bank of America are in early stages of experimenting with similar technologies. Stripe is also looking to issue its own dollar-backed token, as are JPMorgan and U.S. Bancorp. These institutions bring existing client relationships, regulatory standing, and balance sheets that dwarf Circle’s.
Western Union
Western Union is building a digital asset settlement system on Solana, with plans to introduce a US Dollar Payment Token — a direct play at the cross-border remittance market where Circle’s CPN also competes.
Visa & Mastercard
Rather than issuing stablecoins themselves, both networks are integrating stablecoin settlement. Visa and Mastercard have actively integrated USDC for settlement and treasury operations — making them partners today, but potential competitors if they elect to build their own rails.
Circle’s Moat
Despite the crowded field, Circle has built a meaningful compliance advantage. Its reserves are daily-attested by Deloitte, managed by BlackRock, and custodied at BNY Mellon — a transparency stack no competitor currently matches. Circle has carved a distinct niche focused on regulatory compliance, which aligns with institutional and AI-driven use cases where auditability is paramount. As Circle itself has acknowledged, however, money and political influence are great levelers — and the big banks entering this space have plenty of both.
SWIFT built the pipes of global finance for a world that no longer exists. The next fifty years will be built on very different infrastructure — and that build is already underway.
What This Means in Practice
The implications are significant. A business in Miami can pay a supplier in Singapore in seconds, settling in a dollar-pegged digital currency with full auditability and no correspondent bank fees eating into the transaction. What once required navigating layers of intermediaries now travels directly, blockchain to blockchain.
SWIFT built the pipes of global finance for a world that no longer exists. The next fifty years will be built on very different infrastructure — and that build is already underway.
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