global economy According to Jeremy Allaire, co-founder and CEO of Circle, the software company that created one of the world’s top stablecoins is about to undergo a major makeover and it’s going to be centered around cryptocurrencies. To facilitate this transition, Circle is creating what Allaire calls an “economic OS for the Internet.”
“Basically, there are new operating system paradigms that emerge all the time. Web is one, mobile is one, cloud is another, AI is another OS paradigm,” Allaire told WIRED editor Steven Levy on stage at the Big Interview event in San Francisco on Thursday. “And these blockchain networks are the economic OS paradigm, at least what we are doing.”
Circle is best known for USDC, the second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization, currently worth approximately $78 billion. Unlike most cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, stablecoins are designed to have limited price fluctuations. USDC is backed by the US dollar, which means if you have one USDC, you can exchange it for $1. Allaire broadly described USDC and stablecoins as a better, faster way to move money across borders and an attractive option for people living in countries with less stable currencies than the US dollar.
But according to Allaire, stablecoins are only the beginning. The next development in the cryptocurrency sector, he said, is “money as an app platform,” on which a new, digital-only economy will grow.
The circle’s approach to “economic OS” is archWhat the company describes as a “trusted, neutral” platform aims to become a platform for an entire suite of blockchain-based technologies and, thus, become the “foundation” of a “new internet financial system.” According to Allaire, the transition to this new economic system “is going to be a big part of whatever comes up for the Internet in the next five to 10 years.”
Photograph: Annie Noelker
