Circle Prepares to Enable ‘Tap-and-Go’ Payments Using USDC on iPhones

As the global crypto industry continues to evolve, the integration of the sector along with traditional technologies is rapidly becoming a thing.

Fintech company Circle, the issuer of the fourth largest stablecoin USDC, is preparing to enable ‘tap-and-go’ payments using USDC on iPhones, the company’s CEO Jeremy Allaire disclosed in a post on X Monday.

This comes after Apple announced it will be allowing third-party developers to access its NFC chip and Secure Element technology, starting with iOS 18.1.

"Starting with iOS 18.1, developers will be able to offer NFC contactless transactions using the Secure Element from within their own apps on iPhone, separate from Apple Pay and Apple Wallet," the trillion-dollar company noted in the announcement.

Giving further details into the USDC ‘tap-and-go’ launch on iPhones, Allaire highlighted the implications of this update for payment systems.

"Point-of-sale systems will soon be able to communicate directly with iPhone wallets to process transactions using blockchain addresses. This will enable seamless USDC payments to merchants that are authenticated via FaceID.”

"Combining this with high-performance and low-fee blockchain networks (most these days), this will open up a powerful pathway for direct to merchant USDC payments," he added.

Moreover, Allaire stated that Apple’s latest move extends far beyond the USDC stablecoin.

"Lots of chatter and questions about my tweet. A bit more clarity so that people don’t make this into something it is not.”

"Why is tap to pay using USDC on iPhones incoming soon, and what does it mean for Wallet devs to get going?"

– Circle has no relationship with Apple and this… https://t.co/IZfLbIsWGp

According to the CEO, with access to the NFC technology, developers could pave the way for using iPhones for various applications, ranging from handling non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for ticketing to managing other crypto stablecoins like EURC.

It’s worth noting that Apple is only providing third-party access to its NFC chip and Secure Element technology in select countries, which include Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the US, and the UK.

The European Union was notably excluded, as Apple didn’t mention it among the countries that will have access to this latest decision.

As it stands, USDC is currently the second largest crypto stablecoin, following Tether’s USDT, which ranks first.

To put this into perspective, while USDT’s market cap sits at $116.4 billion, Circle’s USDC has a market cap of $34.5 million, nearly $100 billion less when compared.

Regardless, USDC is still making its mark in the crypto space, specifically in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector. According to data from DeFillma, USDC has supported 77 chains, while USDT has supported 76.