In a move that could potentially legitimize cryptocurrencies even further Goldman Sachs backed payments company Circle has acquired US crypto exchange Poloniex. The acquisition aims to extend the firm’s commitment to a new vision for global finance and cement its position as one of the leading companies in the blockchain industry.
According to the Boston based company already operates its app-based peer-to-peer payment network using blockchain. It has been one of the most well-funded blockchain startups, and its investors include Goldman Sachs Group and Chinese search giant Baidu Inc.
Circle to Expand into a Crypto Future
In a today Circle founders Sean Neville and Jeremy Allaire stated; “We’re proud to announce that Circle has extended its commitment to a new vision for global finance by acquiring Poloniex, a leading token exchange platform,”
The Circle Trade desk already handles over $2 billion a month in cryptocurrency transactions with a minimum deal size of $250,000 according to Fortune. Their clients include early investors who have seen huge gains in their digital assets, crypto mining operations, and crypto based business ventures, such as other exchanges, hedge funds, and ICO projects.
The company has a raft of other products including Circle Pay app which enables easy payments via text messages, and a soon to be launched Circle Invest app facilitating small and steady crypto investments. Interoperable digital wallets are also available with the Centre Protocol so there is no shortage of viable products to marry up with an established crypto exchange.
The company blog post went on to state:
“We’ve been privileged to get to know and collaborate with the Poloniex founders and their teams over the past several months as we contemplated this union and completed extensive due diligence together, and we learned that we share a similar perspective on the future as well as the same sharp sense of urgency about immediate needs and challenges.”
Circle’s first mission will be to address customer support and scale risk, compliance, and technical operations to bolster the existing product and platform the blog said. Secondly it will look towards;
“scaling Poloniex up and out through market expansion and localization, increasing token listings where possible and appropriate, and exploring the fiat USD, EUR, and GBP connectivity that Circle already brings to its compliant Pay, Trade, and Invest products.”
According to Coinmarketcap Poloniex is the 14th largest crypto exchange in the world with a daily trade volume of $142 million at the time of writing. The acquisition will put Circle in direct competition with which has essentially monopolized on crypto in the US over the past year.
Published at Mon, 26 Feb 2018 14:28:27 +0000
