Circle and Stripe Expand Across Stablecoin Value Chain as USDC Infrastructure Converges

Circle and Stripe are expanding into overlapping roles in USDC issuance, payments, and infrastructure. Circle, which minted USDC backed by U.S. dollar reserves and pushed its market cap above $55 billion, launched the Arc L1 blockchain, cross-chain transfer protocol CCTP, and Circle Payments Network in May 2025, where 55 financial institutions have registered and 74 are under review. Stripe, which processed $1.9 trillion in payment volume in 2025, launched the x402 USDC payment feature on Base for AI agents, acquired Bridge for $1.1 billion (supporting its conditional OCC trust bank approval on Feb. 12), co-developed the Tempo L1 settlement chain with Paradigm, and bought wallet provider Privy. Artemis data show USDC handled more than $8.4 trillion in onchain transactions in January out of $10 trillion across all stablecoins, with the broader stablecoin market exceeding $300 billion as both firms seek to control key payment, settlement, and application pathways.