Circle is a consumer finance company focused on transforming the world economy with secure, simple, and less costly technology for storing and using digital money. 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 .
In September 2015, Circle received the first BitLicense issued from the New York State Department of Financial Services. In April 2016, the British government approved the first virtual currency licensure to Circle. The company is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.
Up until December 2016, Circle Pay also operated as a bitcoin wallet service to buy and sell bitcoins. 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”. Circle has launched a Bitcoin Blockchain-based remittance and messaging application to serve the unbanked.
On February 26, 2018, Circle announced that they purchased Poloniex Cryptocurrency exchange for $400 million. 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.
Amid the fallout of the Silicon Valley Bank this month, Circle’s USDC stablecoin saw massive outflows which continue to date. The USDC stablecoin has lost 23% market share in less than a month’s time.
