Circle is eyeing NFC payments for USDC on iPhones

As a seasoned analyst with over two decades of experience in the tech and finance industries, I find Circle’s move to enable tap-to-pay using USDC on Apple iPhones an intriguing development. The integration of Near Field Communication (NFC) technology into third-party applications opens up new possibilities for contactless payments, especially within the rapidly growing stablecoin market.


Stablecoin issuer Circle is planning to enable the tap-to-pay feature using USDC on Apple iPhones

On August 14th, Jeremy Allaire, the CEO of X, highlighted a recent declaration by a tech company based in California. According to this announcement, the tech giant plans to permit external developers to incorporate the Near Field Communication feature of the iPhone into their individual apps.

Using Near Field Communication (NFC), devices can establish short-range wireless connections when they are very near to each other, usually less than a few inches apart. This proximity enables contactless data transfers, including making payments or exchanging files, by establishing a secure link between the NFC-equipped devices.

Allarie’s Circle intends to utilize a feature that was exclusively available on Apple-native systems such as Apple Wallet and Apple Pay in the past.

Following Allaire’s subsequent post, iPhone cryptocurrency wallets utilizing this specific function could potentially receive details such as “the blockchain address for accepting USDC or the payment amount,” directly from a POS (Point of Sale) device.

The transaction will be made more secure with Apple’s biometric authentication method, such as FaceID, backed up by Apple’s Secure Element – a specialized piece of hardware within Apple devices that safeguards sensitive data separately from other device components and software.

“Developers of digital wallets ought to begin utilizing the most recent Apple iOS Software Development Kits (SDKs) which facilitate USDC Tap to Pay. Meanwhile, Point-of-Sale (PoS) hardware and software providers should prepare for updates in their firmware to handle NFC instructions related to USDC, collaborate with their payment processors to ensure they upgrade to support native USDC transactions, and subsequently settle those payments.”

Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle

Allaire clarified that the new feature can work together with a fast, cost-effective blockchain system for making immediate USDC payments to merchants directly. He also mentioned that this functionality isn’t limited to USDC and could potentially be utilized in various NFT and stablecoin projects as well.

As an analyst, I’m excited to announce that the newest Software Development Kit (SDK) update from Apple is due for release in the U.S., UK, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, and Brazil.

As a researcher focusing on tech giants, I’ve often observed a tendency for this particular company to maintain a certain distance from the crypto market and even impose restrictions on apps associated with the sector. Last year, their policy of levying a 30% commission on in-app sales of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) via the App Store sparked quite a controversy.

Before that, Apple prohibited the social media service Damus, primarily known for its Bitcoin donation functionality. The company claimed that the Bitcoin tipping feature was against the guidelines of their app store, as it required adherence to Apple’s internal payment system.

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2024-08-15 14:11