Circle (company)

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Circle Internet Financial Limited
Type of businessPrivate
Type of site
Peer to peer payments
Headquarters
Boston, Massachusetts
,
United States
Founder(s)Jeremy Allaire, Sean Neville
Key peopleJeremy Allaire (CEO)
URLcircle.com
LaunchedOctober 2013; 10 years ago (2013-10)

Circle began as a peer-to-peer payments technology company that now manages the popular stablecoin USDC, a cryptocurrency the value of which is pegged to the U.S. dollar. It was founded by Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville in October 2013. Circle is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.[1][2] USDC is currently valued at $36 billion.[3][4][5]

Funding

The company has received over US$135 million in venture capital from 4 rounds of investments from 2013 to 2016, including US$50 million led by Goldman Sachs.[6][7][8] In April 2015 The New York Times reporter Nathaniel Popper wrote that the Goldman Sachs investment "should help solidify Bitcoin’s reputation as a technology that serious financial firms can work with."[9] In June 2016, Circle raised US$60 million in Series D funding backed by new and existing partners.[10] On May 15, 2018, Circle raised US$110 million in venture capital to create USD Coin, an Ethereum coin they claim is backed by USD.[11][12]Today, each USDC token is backed by USD.[2]

In April 2022, Circle Internet Financial announced an agreement for a US$400M funding round with investments from BlackRock, Fidelity Investments, Marshall Wace LLP and Fin Capital, expected to close in the second quarter.[13]

History

In September 2015, Circle received the first BitLicense issued from the New York State Department of Financial Services.[14][15][16] In April 2016, the British government approved the first virtual currency licensure to Circle.[17]

Circle's mobile payment platform, Circle Pay, allowed users to hold, send, and receive traditional fiat currencies,[18] until being slated for discontinuation in 2019. Up until December 2016, Circle Pay also operated as a Bitcoin wallet service to buy and sell Bitcoins.[19][20][21] It has since ceased to provide such service, claiming the company "is now more than ever not a consumer bitcoin exchange, and will continue to focus resources on global social payments and future next-generation blockchain technology".[22]

In June 2019 it was announced that the Circle Pay mobile and web apps would be discontinued on September 30.[23]

In February 2020, Circle sold its digital asset trading platform to Voyager Digital.[24]

In July 2021, Circle announced a plan to merge with a special-purpose acquisition company called Concord Acquisition Corp in a $4.5 billion deal that would make Circle a public company.[25] However, in December 2022 this deal was terminated.[26]

In 2023, at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Allaire said the United States needs new statutory definitions of digital assets to provide regulatory clarity. He also said he hoped Circle will be regulated by the U.S. Federal Reserve and become an established financial player in order to distinguish the company from  recent implosions in the crypto industry.[3][27]

On March 10, 2023, $3.3 billion of its $40 billion USD Coin reserves remain at Silicon Valley Bank, which was closed that day.[28]All of the cash held as reserve has since been parked with Bank of New York Mellon Corp.[29]

On the same month, the company announces that it chooses Paris to develop its commercial activities in Europe.[30][31]

Services and features

As of 2015 a Circle account could be funded in USD via "US-issued Visa and MasterCard credit and debit cards" and US bank accounts.[32] As of 2016, European customers can also use Circle in EUR and GBP.[33] Circle plans to peg the conversion rate to the US Dollar.[34][12] Britain's Financial Conduct Authority granted Circle an electronic money license in April 2016, expanding the use of Circle's services to the United Kingdom and broadening Circle's relationship with UK bank Barclays.[35] In June 2016, Circle announced it will begin expanding its services to China, where CEO Jeremy Allaire believes "there’s an opportunity for Chinese consumers that want to share value globally with friends in other parts of the world."[36]

In December 2016 the Circle app stopped supporting the exchange of bitcoin but still allows money transfers.[37] In October 2017, Circle launched a new service for group payments and cash transfers to US accounts.[38][39]

Acquisitions

On February 26, 2018, Circle announced that they purchased the Poloniex cryptocurrency exchange for $400 million.[40][41] Amid the developments around the acquisition, one of Circle's leaked documents detailing its plans on operating Poloniex revealed the company's moves to become "The US's First Regulated Crypto Exchange" supported by its mutual understanding with the SEC.

While Circle announced the exchange would "spin out" in October 2019,[42] it was revealed one month later that Justin Sun, founder of Tron, led the acquisition of Poloniex.[43]

In October 2018 SeedInvest announced they entered an agreement to sell to Circle, subject to FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) approval.[44]

Investments

In November 2021 Circle led a US$13.5 million funding round in crowdfunding platform Crowdcube.[45]

Criticism

On July 9, 2022, author Matt Taibbi released an extremely critical overview of Circle's business practices in his article titled "The Financial Bubble Era Comes Full Circle".[46]

References

  1. ^ "Circle Internet Financial, Inc.: Private Company Information - Businessweek". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
  2. ^ a b Staff, Aaron Pressman Globe; December 17, Updated; 2022; Comments, 4:17 p m Share on Facebook Share on TwitterView. "Amid crypto crash, Boston's Jeremy Allaire may be the last person standing - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2023-03-20. {{cite web}}: |first4= has generic name (help); |last3= has numeric name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ a b "Crypto Presence Endures at Davos". WSJ. Retrieved 2023-02-14.
  4. ^ "Stablecoin issuer Circle says it's going public in a $4.5 billion SPAC deal". Fortune. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  5. ^ "Crypto is back — in Davos, at least — as redemption tour rolls on". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-02-14.
  6. ^ Alden, William (March 26, 2014). "Dealbook: Startup Unveils Bitcoin Payments Product". The New York Times. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  7. ^ Schroeder, Stan (April 30, 2015). "Bitcoin startup Circle raises $50 million from Goldman Sachs and IDG". Mashable. Retrieved 23 Oct 2018.
  8. ^ Casey, Michael J. (April 30, 2015). "Goldman a Lead Investor in Funding Round for Bitcoin Startup Circle". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 23 Oct 2018.(subscription required)
  9. ^ Popper, Nathaniel (April 30, 2015). "Dealbook: Goldman and IDG Put $50 Million to Work in a Bitcoin Company". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 Oct 2018.
  10. ^ Selina_y_wang, Selina Wang (2016-06-23). "Circle Raises $60 Million in Funding Round Backed by Baidu, IDG". Bloomberg. Retrieved 23 Oct 2018.
  11. ^ Castillo, Michael del (15 May 2018). "Cryptocurrency Startup Circle Raised $110M For Ethereum Coin Backed By U.S. Dollars". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-05-16.
  12. ^ a b Kate Rooney (15 May 2018). "Goldman Sachs-backed start-up Circle introducing a crypto version of the US dollar". CNBC. Retrieved 25 Oct 2018.
  13. ^ "Circle Announces $400M Funding Round". www.prnewswire.com. 12 April 2022.
  14. ^ Vigna, Paul (September 22, 2015). "Moneybeat: Circle Gets First 'BitLicense,' Releases CirclePay, New Service". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 23 Oct 2018.(subscription required)
  15. ^ Woodward, Curt (September 22, 2015). "Circle gets first bitcoin license from New York regulators". beta Boston. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 23 Oct 2018.
  16. ^ NYDFS (September 22, 2015). "NYDFS Announces Approval of First BitLicense Application from a Virtual Currency From a Virtual Currency Firm". ny.gov (press release). Archived from the original on 31 January 2018. Retrieved 23 Oct 2018.
  17. ^ Popper, Nathaniel (2016-04-06). "Bitcoin Start-Up Gets an Electronic Money License in Britain". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 23 Oct 2018.
  18. ^ Nidhi Subbaraman (25 Sep 2015). "Circle's bitcoin app now lets you send cash". beta Boston. Archived from the original on 2015-09-29. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
  19. ^ Alba, Davey (April 30, 2015). "This Digital Wallet Could Finally Get You Into Bitcoin". WIRED. Retrieved 23 Oct 2018.
  20. ^ Alspach, Kyle (March 27, 2014). "Digital currency firm gets $17m in financing". The Boston Globe. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  21. ^ Swisher, Kara (March 26, 2014). "Still More Bitcoin Investing: Circle Internet Financial Raises $17 Million from Oak, Others". re/code. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  22. ^ Sean Neville; Jeremy Allaire (2016-12-06). "Spark, New Markets, App Messaging, and Bitcoin Changes". The Circle Blog. Archived from the original on 2016-12-08. Retrieved 2017-06-06.
  23. ^ "Circle Pay Pulls Out of the Mobile Payments Market". 17 June 2019.
  24. ^ "Circle Sells Crypto Investing App Business to Voyager Digital". Bloomberg.com. 12 February 2020.
  25. ^ Vigna, Paul (2021-07-08). "Cryptocurrency Operator Circle to Go Public in $4.5 Billion SPAC Merger". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  26. ^ "Crypto group Circle ends $9bn deal to go public through Bob Diamond's Spac". Financial Times. 2022-12-05. Retrieved 2022-12-05.
  27. ^ Chowdhury, Divya; Mattackal, Lisa Pauline (2023-01-16). "Davos 2023 New regulatory definitions needed for digital assets -Circle CEO". Reuters. Retrieved 2023-02-14.
  28. ^ Stablecoin Firm Circle Reveals $3.3 Billion Exposure to Silicon Valley Bank. Bloomberg News, 10 March 2023.
  29. ^ "US Bank Crisis Prompts Stablecoin Backer's Flight to Big Lenders". Bloomberg.com. 2023-03-16. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
  30. ^ "LE GÉANT DES STABLECOINS CIRCLE CHOISIT PARIS POUR ÉTABLIR SON SIÈGE EUROPÉEN". bfmtv.com (in French). 03/21/2023. Retrieved 2023-03-29. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  31. ^ "Circle Picks Crypto-Friendly France for European Headquarters". https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-21/circle-picks-crypto-friendly-france-for-european-headquarters?sref=gu9RiAAZ#xj4y7vzkg. 03/21/2023. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |work= (help)
  32. ^ "Which debit and credit cards can I use?". Circle FAQ. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  33. ^ "Circle and British Pound Sterling, Social Payment App Updates, Limitless Spends and Withdrawals". The Circle Blog. 2016-04-05. Retrieved 2017-06-06.
  34. ^ Anna Irrera (15 May 2018). "Circle raises $110 million, plans to create dollar-pegged cryptocurrency". Reuters. Retrieved 25 Oct 2018.
  35. ^ Popper, Nathaniel (2016-04-06). "Bitcoin Start-Up Gets an Electronic Money License in Britain". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-04-06.
  36. ^ "Dublin-listed Circle gets €54m for China expansion".
  37. ^ Fitz Tepper (12 Jul 2016). "Circle removes ability to buy and sell Bitcoin as it doubles down on mobile payments". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2017-02-07.
  38. ^ Adrian Weckler (19 Oct 2017). "Dublin payments firm debuts group transfers - Independent.ie". Independent.ie. Retrieved 2017-10-19.
  39. ^ Kennedy, John (2017-10-19). "Circle reveals group payments and fast, free cash transfers to US accounts". Silicon Republic. Retrieved 2017-10-19.
  40. ^ Robert Hackett (26 Feb 2018). "This Big Cryptocurrency Acquisition Could Create a Wall Street-Style Financial Giant". Fortune. Archived from the original on 26 February 2018. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  41. ^ Romain Dillet (February 26, 2018). "Circle acquires cryptocurrency exchange Poloniex". TechCrunch. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  42. ^ "Poloniex to Spin Out of Circle". Circle.com. Archived from the original on 2020-05-25.
  43. ^ "Poloniex Exchange on Twitter". twitter.com. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  44. ^ Lily Katz (5 Oct 2018). "Circle to Buy SeedInvest to Help Startups Raise Cash With Crypto". Bloomberg. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  45. ^ "Crowdcube raises £10m to power European expansion". AltFi. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  46. ^ Taibbi, Matt (2022-07-09). "The Financial Bubble Era Comes Full Circle". TK News by Matt Taibbi. Retrieved 2022-07-16.

External links

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