Circle has rolled out USDCx, a new version of its stablecoin built on the Aleo blockchain. The token aims to give users what the industry calls “banking-level privacy” by hiding transaction details from public view.
Aleo cofounder Howard Wu said the project tackles a core issue: blockchains are public, and that doesn’t work for institutions like banks. “People don’t want to reveal their business revenues. They don’t want to reveal business intelligence,” Howard allegedly told Fortune.
USDCx is still tied to the U.S. dollar, like any stablecoin, but it’s built differently. Transactions on Aleo appear as blobs of data to anyone scanning the chain. But they’re not invisible.
Each one comes with a compliance record accessible by Circle if law enforcement requests it. Howard described it as “banking-level privacy, as opposed to ‘privacy privacy.’”
Banks Show Interest as Tokenization Trend Grows
The move comes as crypto firms push traditional finance players to use blockchain. And it’s working. BlackRock launched a tokenized money market fund called BUIDL. Robinhood tested blockchain-based stock trading.
Stripe put serious money into stablecoins. In his 2025 investor letter, Larry Fink, BlackRock’s CEO, said: “Every stock, every bond, every fund—every asset—can be tokenized.”
Howard said Aleo has already drawn attention from payroll services like Request Finance and Toku, who want to use USDCx to handle salaries with privacy intact.
Prediction markets, where users bet on sports and global events, are also exploring the token.
Aleo isn’t alone in the privacy space. Coins like Zcash also offer encrypted transactions. But they’re volatile; their price can swing wildly. That’s why Circle believes stablecoins like USDCx, which hold their value, have a better shot at gaining traction with companies and financial platforms.