Author: Mastercard
Compiled by: Felix, PANews
Original title: Conversation with Circle's Chief Commercial Officer: Partnering with Mastercard to Accelerate the Adoption of Crypto Payments, Stablecoins Have More Uses Beyond Trading
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 globally. But Circle's ambitions extend far beyond this.
Circle is committed to building the necessary infrastructure to make blockchain payments and financial services truly accessible to ordinary users. To this end, Circle provides developer tools, the Circle payment network, and its self-developed blockchain Arc, aiming to offer blockchain-based payment capabilities to almost any company.
Kash Razzaghi, the Chief Commercial Officer responsible for advancing these partnerships and strategies, stated: "We are building an internet financial platform that can genuinely help facilitate and accelerate the shift of funds on-chain."
The transition of financial infrastructure to blockchain promises to make fund flows faster, cheaper, and more transparent. He noted that the task of evolving the entire payment ecosystem is too immense for any single entity to handle alone. Therefore, Circle is collaborating 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, and Circle has joined this initiative.
"This requires the collective effort of the entire community," Razzaghi added. "Mastercard's involvement significantly enhances the credibility of this technology and showcases the future potential of the entire industry."
Razzaghi was interviewed by Mastercard shortly after returning from the World Economic Forum in Davos in January. In Davos, he engaged with various figures in finance and financial services, aiming to attract more participants to the growing blockchain community.
The following Q&A has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
How do you view the current free-floating cryptocurrency market?
The market is volatile, which should be expected. For most of its development, cryptocurrency has been directly associated with speculation. But what excites us is moving beyond that. I don’t think trading and speculation will completely disappear—that’s not the point—but the evolution from speculation to infrastructure. Have we experienced booms in crypto speculation? Yes. Have we experienced turbulent times in crypto speculation? Yes. These cycles have always existed. If someone sells, I believe someone else will buy; it’s natural.
What blockchain-related topics did you hear about in Davos?
It was all about infrastructure—how blockchain technology and digital assets can solve real-world problems or enhance fund flows, value storage, and access to financial systems and tools. That was the refreshing aspect of Davos this year. As regulations clear obstacles to institutional participation, the advantages of infrastructure are becoming increasingly evident. This isn’t about speculation; it’s about how to use this technology to transfer billions or even trillions of dollars in value instantly, securely, and at low cost, and how to upgrade financial systems and infrastructure that have seen little change in the past 75 years.
The consensus in discussions is that the entire ecosystem will benefit. Blockchain will assist companies currently operating in financial infrastructure, financial markets, or financial services to grow their businesses and provide better services. For a long time, people have debated, "Will blockchain technology 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 ecosystem participants are also focusing on this. All banks, financial service institutions, traditional exchanges, and card networks are actively embracing this technology because they anticipate that the cost of fund transfers will approach zero, while transfer speeds will significantly increase.
If we are to overhaul the financial system, what role should companies like Mastercard play? We have established partnerships—how can both sides benefit mutually? How can our work benefit consumers and small businesses?
What is Mastercard’s core value? It’s about providing trust, right? You’ve built a global trust network. I personally hold a Mastercard. When I swipe my card, merchants can be confident that funds will be received because Mastercard backs it. In my view, the importance of trust will never disappear. I believe Mastercard’s involvement is not only about maintaining and consolidating trust but also about providing more advanced technology for transactions. You make transactions more convenient, more accessible, and remove barriers and intermediaries. You are eliminating friction, and over time, it may become more cost-effective.
Circle’s benefit lies in the popularization of stablecoins and digital assets. We foresee a future where funds flow on-chain. We believe that moving funds on-chain will be more efficient in the future. Of course, there is still much work to be done in infrastructure, regulation, and compliance; we are not there yet. When Mastercard truly starts building on-chain businesses and leveraging on-chain products to serve its customers, it will accelerate the adoption of digital assets.
What are the main use cases for stablecoins currently?
There are currently three main use cases. In terms of popularity, usage, and growth, the primary use case for stablecoins is trading and investment. If you are involved in digital asset investment and hold Bitcoin, Ethereum, or other digital assets, using USDC for investment is an excellent choice because you can buy and sell these assets at any time and hold the value in a stable currency like USDC.
The next two use cases, while not as large as trading and investment currently, show remarkable momentum. We believe the next phase of growth and practical application will come from these areas. Payments, particularly cross-border payments, are a significant use case. Whether you are an institution or an overseas diaspora, 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 ideal solution. Transferring funds on blockchain can eliminate intermediaries, reducing fees. Settlement times can be shortened from days or even weeks to seconds or minutes. We are seeing substantial growth in fund flows across various industries. Even large institutions need to move funds from Singapore to New York; now they can use stablecoins without being constrained by banking hours. We believe the application of payments will extend far beyond cross-border payments to all aspects of payments.
The third use case is value storage, which primarily occurs in countries suffering from currency devaluation, such as Iran, Venezuela, or Argentina. These countries experience hyperinflation, and people no longer trust their local currency, preferring to hold US dollars as a hedge.
We believe that the functions of payments and value storage will accelerate this trend, driving the total market cap of stablecoins far beyond today’s levels.
When do you think stablecoins will be widely adopted by the mainstream market?
There is a view that mainstream adoption will be achieved when stablecoins and the underlying technology as a whole become so foundational that people may not even realize they are holding stablecoins. They will think they are holding US dollars and sending US dollars. We often draw this analogy: when you visit a website and type HTTP, most people don’t understand that technology. They just know they are sending an email. This model of "mainstreaming" does exist, where the underlying infrastructure of stablecoins will be entirely simplified into on-chain distribution.
You were the founder of a sports social platform. You worked at the video software platform Brightcove. You also did custom apparel. How have these experiences helped you for your current role?
Career paths are not linear. You benefit from luck and timing, as well as the expertise you accumulate, which can help you tackle future challenges. So, if you look back at my career, you’ll see a blend of apparel, sports companies, video distribution, and cryptocurrency. What’s the common thread? Entrepreneurship, market expansion, business development, sales. I love creating. I am mission-driven. I enjoy solving problems that genuinely impact large populations.
So, when I joined Circle six years ago, I wasn’t the so-called "most crypto-native" person. I wasn’t a cryptocurrency expert, but when you understand what this technology can actually do, you become inspired by it and driven by its mission.
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