Circle CEO says ‘aggressive regulatory actions’ on crypto caused ‘deep market anxiety’

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire has warned about the risks facing the crypto market due to exposure to the U.S. Dollar and the regulatory risk in the U.S. financial system.

In a March 23 Twitter thread, Allaire said there “seems to be a large-scale risk-off from USD that is exposed to US banks and US regulatory risk.”

The CEO stated that there is general market anxiety revolving around the large-scale failure of the US banking system and the aggressive regulatory actions on crypto.

He noted the irony of companies with the highest level of compliance with US regulations and are most integrated with the banking system facing issues. This group is currently considered unsafe due to concerns about assets being stranded.

Allaire added that a macro risk was also driving rotation from USD into flagship digital assets — Bitcoin and Ethereum

Calls for regulation

The Circle CEO urged U.S. policymakers to be careful about their next steps.

He noted that their actions have started forcing market participants out of the U.S. into poorly regulated jurisdictions with higher risks and lax controls.

As such, Allaire said that the current situation calls for a “clear, coherent and pragmatic policy” if the U.S. does want to lose its position as a leader in the blockchain technology space.

USDC remains strong

Meanwhile, Allaire noted that Circle would continue to operate within the regulatory framework and comply with the highest standards and transparency.

He added:

“USDC has not missed a beat, we have never failed to mint or redeem USDC for $1, including during the past weeks stress test. As of last week, in the past year, we have redeemed $192.4B USDC at $1, and issued $176.9B at $1.”

The CEO also stated that Circle is adding new transit and settlement banking partners to ensure that it can process issuance and redemptions of digital dollars 24/7 and throughout the year.