Circle Technology Services, an affiliate of Circle Internet Group and operator of the Circle Payments Network, announced a partnership with Nium to connect USDC-powered settlement with Nium’s global payout infrastructure. According to the statement, Nium joined the Circle Payments Network as a global payout partner, giving financial institutions on the network access to payouts across more than 190 countries and 100 currencies through a single integration. The companies said the setup enables institutions to route payments through Circle Payments Network into Nium’s infrastructure for delivery of local currency funds into accounts, wallets, and cards worldwide, while reducing the need to manage fragmented providers and prefunding accounts across multiple corridors. Circle also said the Circle Payments Network manages $8.3 billion in annualized transaction volume based on trailing 30-day activity as of March 31, which it described as evidence of growing institutional adoption of USDC for global payments.