Circle Pushes for Stablecoin Settlement Systems as Alternative to Traditional Payment Rails

Circle, the US-based stablecoin issuer, has made a significant push into institutional payments infrastructure with its latest paper on blockchain-based settlement systems.

The company argues that traditional payment and settlement rails are increasingly inefficient for modern global commerce due to delayed liquidity cycles, reconciliation costs, and trapped working capital across banking and treasury systems.

Circle positions continuous blockchain-based settlement as an alternative to legacy systems such as ACH transfers, card network reconciliation, and T+1 or T+2 settlement structures commonly used in financial markets.

The company cited estimates from PwC suggesting that companies worldwide hold roughly $1.8 trillion in excess working capital tied partly to settlement inefficiencies.