Circle's latest approval as a Major Payments Institution License holder in Singapore is the latest in global crypto adoption. On November 2nd, the firm was granted approval by the Monetary Authority of Singapore to allow Circle the ability to develop new product payment systems involving their token USDC.

What this means for Crypto

While Stablecoins have been at the center of a lot of issues during the summer of 2022, when many DeFi protocols fell apart, they still hold a meaningful place in the web3 economy because of their pegs to fiat currencies which reduce volatility and make investments, savings, and remittance much easier to handle in decentralized environments. 

What will happen to USDC?

In their statement, Circle’s Chief Strategy Officer Dante Disparte explained that approval from Singapore will allow the firm to work with individuals and entities within the city-state to explore the possibilities of digital payment systems. 

This means that there will be an increased emphasis on fintech development for financial engineers which will help establish stronger protocol platforms and regulations to ensure that interactions with decentralized platforms will be safe for everyday users.

Singapore is big on crypto

Singapore, for a long time, has been one of the leaders in cryptocurrency adoption and the web3 industry. As one of Asia’s largest financial hubs, their interaction with blockchain technologies has allowed new businesses to flourish. 

Earlier in Spring 2022, Circle had announced that they would begin looking more closely into working with Singapore and recognize them as a principal cryptocurrency hub. 

Stablecoins are still relevant

While this spells good news for most people working in Singapore and on other decentralized platforms, there is still a lot of criticism being thrown at stablecoins by people who have lost trust in their pegs.

Many comments from the crypto community are stressing that USDC is unaudited and still lacks proof that their USDC token is backed by any meaningful amount of fiat currency. 

Following similar issues from other protocols, such as Terra Luna and 3AC, it is no surprise that people have lost confidence in the concept of stablecoins, choosing to exchange their liquidity for more safe layer 1 options like Ethereum.

Although investors are skeptical about the future of Circle and USDC, it is clear that such approval by Singapore is not given out lightly; and that improvements to decentralized financial services such as DEXs and DeFi will slowly begin to improve for the USDC community.