Circle Plans A Major Asia Expansion With Crypto Trading Services

After acquiring crypto exchange Poloniex, Circle is planning to expand in Asia by introducing crypto trading services for institutional and individual investors, a peer-to-peer money transfer service and adding to their Hong Kong staff to manage the Asian operations.

Circle to introduce crypto trading for Asian institutional & individual investors

Circle, the US crypto trading platform that recently acquired Poloniex, a cryptocurrency exchange, is now planning to expand into Asia. The company that is backed by Goldman Sachs, IDG Partners, and Chinese international giant Baidu, is launching an over-the-counter cryptocurrency trading services for fund managers and hedge funds among other institutional investors.

The founder and CEO of Circle, Jeremy Allaire mentioned that this year the company is working on expanding the staff of its Hong Kong office from a mere handful to about 35. Furthermore, they are planning to support the sales, customer service, market making and regulatory compliance of the Asia region from this city.

Talking about his Asia plans and cryptocurrency, Allaire enunciated:

“We want to have hundreds and thousands of major clients in Asia. My vision is that there can be crypto tokens for everything, I’d like to have a marketplace where people from all over the world [can trade tokenized] financial assets.”

Founded in 2013, Circle has about 400 employees worldwide that is currently trading more than $4 billion a month in cryptocurrencies for its clients. The company has $140 million in venture capital and has CreditEase, a Chinese fintech company as one of its investors.

Though Jeremy Allaire didn’t provide any details on the timeframe, his did mention that as a next step, the company would be introducing a cryptocurrency trading for the individual investors of Asia. Also, a peer-to-peer money transfer service is next on the line that will be backed by the blockchain network of bitcoin.

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A platform with listing guidelines

The Asia expansion of Circle comes at a time when cryptocurrency exchanges are facing attacks of hacks and thefts and increased scrutiny of global regulators.  

Recently, Japan suspended two of its exchanges on the ground of lacking proper cybersecurity and control measures. Moreover, the US SEC has also issued warnings regarding the exchanges being unregulated.

As for China, it has taken a series of measures to crack down digital currencies, cryptocurrency exchanges and banning the banks from providing funding for that.

Allaire responded with the trading platforms being lax in vetting the new tokens, further explaining that:

“[People refer to them as] ‘Coins’R’Us’, platforms that list anything that comes out. That might not only be violating securities laws … but also doing a disservice to investors by launching really weak projects. That is not a reputation we want to have.”

Allaire states that Circle would be publishing the guidelines soon that will basically clarify the criteria for blockchain projects and digital tokens to be listed on its platform.

What do you think of Circle’s expansion plans into Asia? Do you think it will affect the cryptocurrency market of the area? Share your thoughts with us below!