Amid the downtrend of the crypto market, the money is still flowing into DeFi and its many expressions. One of these is the trend of companies focused on facilitating stablecoins. For these companies, the potential is lucrative with plenty of investors poised to join in. One of these companies is Circle, the global technology firm offering payments and treasury infrastructure for internet businesses. Its latest funding round indicates that DeFi may only just be ramping up.
With Circle, people and business are able to trade, access, and create new financial products directly, without the traditional middlemen of the financial system. DeFi (decentralized finance), the space that Circle operates within, is fast becoming consumers’ preferred solution to the financial model - finance done without the stuffy traditional constructs that have been immovable and un-evolving for a long time. With DeFi, numerous steps in the flow of transactions, especially across borders, are usurped for immediacy of action. Within this, stablecoins, blockchain, and similar financial alternatives are able to grow. Circle, which offers the digital stablecoin USD Coin (USDC), is at the head of this evolution. With $22 billion of USDC currently in circulation, Circle has seen 436% growth in 2021.
Focusing on the USDC stablecoin has been a winning strategy for Circle, which uses blockchain to manage transactions in the coin. Speaking on this, Jeremy Allaire, Circle Co-founder and CEO said, “As a company, Circle has remained committed to our mission of raising global economic prosperity through the power of digital currency, block chains and breakthroughs in programmable money.” He added, “The sustained global demand for our services powering the growth of the USDC, as the most trusted and well-regulated dollar digital currency, signals that we are when step closer to achieving our mission.” Thanks to the company’s success, its new platform is reported to have supported over 10 million retail customers, and more than 1,000 businesses to conduct over 100 million transactions worth over $615 billion.
As for the aforementioned willing investors in the space, Circle can also attest to this possibility. The company recently raised $440 million in a private equity round. The round was led by a mix of institutional and strategic investors which included investments from Fidelity Management and Research Company, Marshall Wace, Willet Advisors, Intersection Fintech Ventures, Atlas Merchant Capital, Digital Currency Group, FTX, Breyer Capital, Valor Capital Group, Pillar VC, as well as Michael J. Price and Friends. To date, Circle has raised $711 million across nine funding rounds.
The company hasn’t yet shared what it intends to use the funding for, but no doubt Circle has its work cut out for it in growing the company to meet demand.
