(24:32/Nisa) The stablecoin market is on fire, as evidenced by the value of fiat-backed cryptocurrencies surpassing the $10 billion mark and having trebled year to date. The coronavirus pandemic has only accelerated growth and adoption, according to Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire.

(25:00) Circle’s stablecoin USDC has experienced dramatic growth across every major metric of late, which has correlated rather closely with the COVID pandemic. USDC supply has ballooned by well over 100% to nearly 1 billion coins in circulation, and the pace at which people are using it as a payment rail is growing exponentially. In addition, Circle is witnessing an increase in the number of USDC wallets and on-chain transactions have been moving steadily.

(27:02) “We’ve sort of staved off a financial crisis for now. But as this unfolds there is that risk,” said Allaire, adding: (27:20) “Dollarization is a global theme. It’s about Latin America, Africa, South Asia [and] other parts of the world where they do not have the firepower of the Fed, they do not have the fiscal means to counteract the incredible disruption that the pandemic is having on their economies.”