Circle (company)

Circle Internet Financial Limited
Type of business Private
Type of site
 peer to peer payments
Headquarters Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Founder(s) Jeremy Allaire, Sean Neville
Website circle.com
Launched October 2013 (2013-10)

Circle is a peer-to-peer payments technology company. It was founded by Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville in October 2013. Circle’s mobile payment platform, Circle Pay, allows users to hold, send, and receive traditional fiat currencies .[1][2] In September 2015, Circle received the first BitLicense issued from the New York State Department of Financial Services.[3][4][5] In April 2016, the British government approved the first virtual currency licensure to Circle.[6] Circle is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.[7]

Up until December 2016, Circle Pay also operated as a bitcoin wallet service to buy and sell bitcoins.[8][9][10] 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".[11] Circle has launched a Bitcoin Blockchain-based remittance and messaging application to serve the unbanked.[12]

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.[13][14][15] 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."[16] In June 2016, Circle raised US$60 million in Series D funding backed by new and existing partners.[17][18] On May 15, 2018, Circle raised US$110 million in venture capital to create an Ethereum coin backed by USD.[19]

Services and features

As of 2015 a Circle account can be funded in USD via "US-issued Visa and MasterCard credit and debit cards", US bank accounts.[20] As of 2016, European customers can also use Circle in EUR and GBP.[21] The Circle conversion rate is not pegged to a specific exchange and may fluctuate around other bitcoin exchange rates but according to the Circle President "it’s simply never a revenue generator".[22] 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.[23][24] 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."[25]

In December 2016 the Circle app stopped supporting the exchange of bitcoin but still allows money transfers.[26] In October 2017, Circle launched a new service for group payments and cash transfers to US accounts.[27][28]

Club500

The Circle app offers a ‘Club500’ scheme targeted at university clubs and societies was voted in the top 10 applications to save students money.[29]

Acquisitions

On February 26, 2018, Circle announced that they purchased Poloniex Cryptocurrency exchange for $400 million.[30] 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.[31]

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

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Circle brings social payments app to UK". CoinReport. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
  2. ↑ "Circle's bitcoin app now lets you send cash". www.betaboston.com. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
  3. ↑ Vigna, Paul (September 22, 2015). "Moneybeat: Circle Gets First 'BitLicense,' Releases CirclePay, New Service". Wall Street Journal.
  4. ↑ Woodward, Curt (September 22, 2015). "Circle gets first bitcoin license from New York regulators". betaboston.com.
  5. ↑ NYDFS (September 22, 2015). "NYDFS ANNOUNCES APPROVAL OF FIRST BITLICENSE APPLICATION FROM A VIRTUAL CURRENCY FIRM". ny.gov (press release).
  6. ↑ 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.
  7. ↑ "Circle Internet Financial, Inc.: Private Company Information - Businessweek". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
  8. ↑ Alba, Davey (April 30, 2015). "This Digital Wallet Could Finally Get You Into Bitcoin". WIRED.
  9. ↑ Alspach, Kyle (March 27, 2014). "Digital currency firm gets $17m in financing". The Boston Globe. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  10. ↑ Swisher, Kara (March 26, 2014). "Still More Bitcoin Investing: Circle Internet Financial Raises $17 Million from Oak, Others". re/code. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Spark, New Markets, App Messaging, and Bitcoin Changes". The Circle Blog. 2016-12-06. Retrieved 2017-06-06.
  12. ↑ "Circle Terminates Bitcoin Trading, Focuses on Next Generation Platform". Cointelegraph. 7 December 2016.
  13. ↑ Alden, William (March 26, 2014). "Dealbook: Startup Unveils Bitcoin Payments Product". The New York Times. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  14. ↑ Schroeder, Stan (April 30, 2015). "Bitcoin startup Circle raises $50 million from Goldman Sachs and IDG". Mashable.
  15. ↑ Casey, Michael J. (April 30, 2015). "Goldman a Lead Investor in Funding Round for Bitcoin Startup Circle". Wall Street Journal.
  16. ↑ Popper, Nathaniel (April 30, 2015). "Dealbook: Goldman and IDG Put $50 Million to Work in a Bitcoin Company". The New York Times.
  17. ↑ Selina_y_wang, Selina Wang. "Circle Raises $60 Million in Funding Round Backed by Baidu, IDG". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2016-06-23.
  18. ↑ "Circle Internet Financial to open an independent company in China". Retrieved 2016-06-23.
  19. ↑ Castillo, Michael del. "Cryptocurrency Startup Circle Raised $110M For Ethereum Coin Backed By U.S. Dollars". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-05-16.
  20. ↑ "Which debit and credit cards can I use?". Circle FAQ. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  21. ↑ "Circle and British Pound Sterling, Social Payment App Updates, Limitless Spends and Withdrawals". The Circle Blog. 2016-04-05. Retrieved 2017-06-06.
  22. ↑ Neville, PS. "Circle Debut Questions". medium.com. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  23. ↑ 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.
  24. ↑ "Circle Internet Financial links with Barclays to launch sterling app | News.Markets". News.Markets. Retrieved 2016-04-06.
  25. ↑ "Circle Internet Financial to open an independent company in China". Retrieved 2016-06-23.
  26. ↑ "Circle removes ability to buy and sell Bitcoin as it doubles down on mobile payments". Retrieved 2017-02-07.
  27. ↑ "Dublin payments firm debuts group transfers - Independent.ie". Independent.ie. Retrieved 2017-10-19.
  28. ↑ Kennedy, John (2017-10-19). "Circle reveals group payments and fast, free cash transfers to US accounts". Silicon Republic. Retrieved 2017-10-19.
  29. ↑ "Top 15 apps to save students (and everyone else) a bundle". The Independent. Retrieved 2018-02-12.
  30. ↑ http://fortune.com/2018/02/26/circle-cryptocurrency-trade-bitcoin/
  31. ↑ Cryptocurrency Exchange Poloniex Acquired By Circle. Crypto-News India. Retrieved 2018-02-27.
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