Circle, a cryptocurrency payments and investment platform backed by Goldman Sachs, has closed a $110m Series E round.
The series was led by China-based bitcoin mining technology developer Bitmain, which also formed a strategic investor with Circle. Other participants to the series includes IDG Capital, Breyer Capital, General Catalyst, Accel, Digital Currency Group, Pantera, Blockchain Capital and Tusk Ventures.
Through the partnership with Bitmain, Circle hopes to gain support for its efforts in introducing multiple fiat-backed stablecoins and drive global interoperability.
Circle is a cryptocurrency financial platform which operates across four divisions, Circle Invest, Circle Trade, Circle Pay, and Poloniex. The company’s payment unit lets users to transfer money across 29 countries in dollars, pounds and euros. Payments can be made through its mobile app messaging service.
The company’s trade solution supports crypto OTC to be exchanged through Circle’s global desk. Its Poloniex solution is a crypto exchange platform which lets users to buy and sell digital tokens. Circle acquired Poloniex earlier in the year.
Its final service, Circle Invest, is yet to launch but will enable customers to choose from seven cryptocurrencies to invest into, committing as little as $1.
The company is launching Circle USDC, a solution to help customers purchase and use USDC fiat tokens for payments, and trading on the platform. The token is a US dollar-backed stablecoin based on the CENTRE open source framework.
In a blog post Circle co-founders Sean Neville and Jeremy Aallaire said, “We wholeheartedly believe that an open internet of value exchange can transform and integrate the world more deeply, eventually eliminating artificial economic borders and enabling a more efficient and inclusive global marketplace that connects every person on the planet.
“We see the future of the global economy as open, shared, inclusive, distributed, and powerful — not only for a few chosen gatekeepers, but for all who will connect.”
Earlier in the month, Goldman Sachs led the $13.6m Series B investment into online mortgage provider Trussle. The UK company helps consumers to monitor mortgage prices and see if there are better deals.
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