Stablecoin issuer Circle announced today (21st) that the Circle Payments Network (CPN) mainnet has officially gone live. CPN is a blockchain-based payment coordination protocol that enables global banks and payment service providers to conduct instant settlements using USDC and EURC on public blockchains, thereby enhancing cross-border payment efficiency and reducing related costs.
CPN Core Functions and Initial Deployment
CPN's core functions focus on efficiency, compliance, and global interconnectivity:
- Instant Settlement: Provides 24/7 service with transactions completed in seconds, significantly reducing operational costs and upfront capital requirements for traditional cross-border payments, and improving capital efficiency.
- Compliance Priority: The platform adopts a "compliance-first" framework, conducting strict qualification reviews for all members, including licensing, anti-money laundering/combating terrorist financing (AML/CFT) compliance, risk management, and security protocols.
- Global Interconnection and B2B Applications: Supports diverse business-to-business (B2B) payment scenarios such as supplier payments, cross-border remittances, fund management, and batch payments, while simplifying connections between financial institutions.
- Technical Foundation: Utilizing blockchain technology, smart contracts, and Circle's Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP), providing high programmability and interoperability, including advanced confidentiality features.
The first institutions participating in CPN include Alfred, Tazapay, ConduitPay, and RedotPay, who will initially open stablecoin payment channels in Latin America and Asia.
Circle plans to expand CPN services to Nigeria, the EU, UK, Colombia, India, UAE, China, Turkey, Philippines, Vietnam, and Argentina by 2025.
Circle in Competitive Landscape
CPN's purpose is undoubtedly to enhance USDC's utility and adoption rate, strengthening its position in the stablecoin market. However, CPN may simultaneously face competition from existing payment giants like Visa, Mastercard, and Ripple, along with challenges such as member onboarding complexity, potential regulatory hurdles, and dependence on blockchain infrastructure. Circle's vision is to make fund movement as convenient as sending an email.
