dLocal Joins Circle Payments Network to Power Stablecoin Payouts Across Emerging Markets

Payments platform dLocal has integrated with the Circle Payments Network (CPN) to enable seamless, stablecoin-powered payouts across emerging markets, addressing a major friction point in global finance.

This collaboration links CPN, which is powered by payment stablecoins USDC and EURC, with dLocal’s local payment infrastructure. This connection allows CPN participants, such as financial institutions and fintechs, to disburse funds efficiently in local currencies across high-growth economies.

The move is a direct effort to tackle the high costs and slow settlement times that burden businesses operating in emerging markets. By leveraging stablecoins for real-time settlement, the partnership aims to provide CPN participants with reduced costs and a more reliable user experience for recipients.

The alliance effectively builds a bridge between Circle’s global stablecoin payments network and dLocal’s on-the-ground, “last-mile” payout rails. CPN connects financial institutions globally for real-time settlement, and dLocal’s integration provides the crucial link to local ecosystems, enabling funds settled on-chain to be paid out to recipients in their local currency.

Kash Razzaghi, chief business officer at Circle, emphasised the network’s purpose: “A key driver in the development of Circle Payments Network was creating a new layer for payments to reach emerging markets in a fast and cost-effective way. dLocal’s payout offerings throughout emerging markets are crucial to delivering on this promise and creating a more open, digital financial system”.

John O’Brien, chief revenue officer at dLocal, described the alliance as a “milestone” in the evolution of digital payments. “This alliance marks a milestone in connecting global stablecoin liquidity with local payment ecosystems,” said O’Brien. “By leveraging dLocal’s extensive presence across emerging markets, it enables financial institutions and fintechs to operate more efficiently, reduce costs, and deliver a better experience for businesses sending funds in these high-growth economies”.

Speaking to The Fintech Times, Rocio Rodriguez Saa, dLocal’s Head of Stablecoins and Crypto, explained the rationale behind the company’s focus on USDC particularly in an institutional context. Given the increasing regulatory clarity around fully compliant fiat-backed stablecoins in major markets, USDC has become the most suitable option for the type of merchants and financial institutions dLocal works with. She added that Circle’s progress in onboarding regulated financial institutions into the CPN network makes this collaboration strategically important for dLocal’s business development.

While dLocal is a traditional company, it wants to get more involved in stablecoins, believing the future lies in a combination of traditional finance and crypto. As Rodriguez Saa stated: “You can’t live only with crypto. You can’t live only with Fiat. You can have the best of both worlds and companies that understand that are the ones that are going to succeed”.

Rodriguez Saa also provided insight into the cost structures of the crypto payment rail versus traditional finance. She noted that while in traditional finance sending a larger sum is proportionately cheaper, the opposite can be true in crypto: Unlike traditional finance, on-chain transfer fees are fixed and don’t get cheaper when you send larger amounts. But when you need to convert or move large volumes through liquidity pools, OTC, or exchanges, the cost does increase with size. She clarified that dLocal relies on the issuer’s institutional infrastructure, which provides consistent fees and streamlined minting and redemption.

For dLocal’s merchants, the shift to stablecoins brings increased efficiency, including instant transactions, better costs, and faster settlements, even on weekends. The expected transaction size through CPN is primarily in B2B, focusing on large transaction sizes, although the infrastructure can support a wide range of values.

Rodriguez Saa believes stablecoins are on a path to becoming an invisible utility layer in the global financial system. “I feel stablecoins are going to take that place, we are going to start interacting with stable coins without even knowing it, or our banks are going to do it, which they already are doing it, but it’s going to be like invisible for the end user,” she commented.