


In June 2019 it was announced that the Circle Pay mobile and web apps would be discontinued on September 30. In October 2017, Circle launched a new service for group payments and cash transfers to US accounts. In December 2016 the Circle app stopped supporting the exchange of bitcoin but still allows money transfers. 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." 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. Circle plans to peg the conversion rate to the US Dollar.
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As of 2016, European customers can also use Circle in EUR and GBP. Services and features Īs of 2015 a Circle account can be funded in USD via "US-issued Visa and MasterCard credit and debit cards", US bank accounts. 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. 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." In June 2016, Circle raised US$60 million in Series D funding backed by new and existing partners. 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. Ĭircle is the issuer of the USDC stablecoin. to go public, a deal that values the company at $4.5 billion. In July 2021, Circle announced a plan to merge with a special-purpose acquisition company called Concord Acquisition Corp. In February 2020, Circle sold its digital asset trading platform to Voyager Digital. 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". Up until December 2016, Circle Pay also operated as a Bitcoin wallet service to buy and sell Bitcoins. Circle is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. In April 2016, the British government approved the first virtual currency licensure to Circle. In September 2015, Circle received the first BitLicense issued from the New York State Department of Financial Services. Circle's mobile payment platform, Circle Pay, allows users to hold, send, and receive traditional fiat currencies. It was founded by Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville in October 2013. Circle is a peer-to-peer payments technology company.
