Circle said it will officially launch its stablecoin in Japan on March 26 after one of its local partners received regulatory approval to list the US dollar stablecoin three weeks ago.

USDC (USDC) will first be listed on the “SBI VC Trade” crypto exchange under a joint venture between its parent firm — Japanese financial conglomerate SBI Holdings — and Circle’s Japanese entity Circle Japan KK, Circle said in a March 24 statement.

The news comes three weeks after SBI VC Trade secured an industry-first regulatory approval on March 4 to list USDC under the Japan Financial Services Agency’s stablecoin regulatory framework.

Circle is also looking to list USDC on Binance Japan, bitbank, and bitFlyer in the near future.

Japan’s bitbank and bitFlyer are two of the country’s largest crypto exchanges — having processed more than $25 million each over the last day with over 1.85 million visits to their websites in the last month.

The regulatory approval comes after two years of back-and-forth negotiations with regulators, banking partners, and industry players, Circle’s Jeremy Allaire said in a March 24 X post.

“[This] unlocks tremendous opportunities not just in trading digital assets, but more broadly in payments, cross border finance and commerce, FX,” he added.

Source: Jeremy Allaire

SBI Holdings CEO and president Yoshitaka Kitao said the USDC launch would enhance financial accessibility and drive crypto innovation in Japan’s evolving digital economy.

“[This aligns] with our broader vision for the future of payments and blockchain-based finance in Japan.”

Related: Gold-backed stablecoins will outcompete USD stablecoins — Max Keiser

Meanwhile, USDC and Circle’s euro-backed EURC (EURC) stablecoin were recognized as the first stablecoins under the Dubai Financial Services Authority’s new regime on Feb. 24.

The recognition allows companies operating in the Dubai International Financial Centre — a free economic zone — to integrate the two stablecoins into a range of digital asset applications, including payments, treasury management and services.

USDC remains the second largest stablecoin by market cap at $59.7 billion, trailing only Tether’s USDT at $143.8 billion, CoinGecko data shows.

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