Circle Racing to Launch US Dollar Backed Stable Cryptocurrency

Circle is all set to launch its US Dollar backed USDC coin this summer in partnership with Bitmain which is also leading the $110 million investment in Circle that has the company at about $3 billion valuations after acquiring Poloniex in February.

Circle’s stable coin USDC to take on USDT & TUSD

Just months after acquiring the crypto exchange Poloniex for approximately $400 million, Circle has taken substantive steps towards its growth and expansion. Goldman Sachs-backed Circle is now planning to create a cryptocurrency that will be secured by the US dollar.

The token called Circle USD Coin or USDC coin that will take place this summer will be backed by the US dollars reserves and will allow the businesses and consumers to efficiently transfer value.

Jeremy Allaire, the CEO, and founder of Circle is very excited as he states:

“We’re racing to get this launched. The next wave of growth in a broader range of tokenized assets depends on this existing.”

Allaire also said:

“There are a number of banks who are excited about it and will support it.” Initially, “USDC will be ERC-20 tokens minted, issued, and redeemed based on network rules defined by CENTRE.”

Bitcoin among other cryptocurrencies in the market has struggled to become a viable payment option due to its extreme volatility.

He further believes this currency can help drive the adoption of blockchain-based systems as stated by him at an event:

“It is difficult to use something like bitcoin if the volatility is so high. Something like this makes it more possible.”

Currently, Tether (USDT) and TrueUSD (TUSD) are the two stable coins in the market that are claimed to be 100 percent backed by US Dollars.

Also, read: Cryptocurrency to Hit a Trillion Dollar Market Cap as Coinbase Lures in Institutional Investors

Bitmain leads $110 Mln investment in Circle

Now, the Boston-based Circle, a crypto finance company is all set to get into the crypto space by securing a $110 million fundraising round. The move to address the unstable nature of cryptos has been led by the mining hardware manufacturer Bitmain, the biggest Chinese bitcoin mining company.

With this new round of funding, the private valuation of this crypto startup would reach about $3 billion which is over six times than its worth two years back.

This valuation makes Circle one of the highest US crypto startup that is privately valued. When it comes to the rivals, the biggest one is Coinbase that was valued at $1.6 billion but is now seeking for $8 billion valuations.

As for Bitmain, as per the co-founder and director of the Bitmain, Jihaan Wu, its private valuation is at $12 billion with revenue of $2.5 billion, last year.

Bitmain would be helping Circle create a variety of these coins based on different currencies like Japanese yen or Chinese renminbi. Furthermore, Bitmain will also join the Centre initiative of the Circle that works on “making payments interoperability between digital wallets online.”

Wu is bullish on these coins as he states:

“I think in the future the markets are not only about cryptocurrencies and ICOs but about stable tokens and traditional verticals like bonds and stocks.”

Apart from Bitmain, this funding round also involves other investors viz. IDG Capital, General Catalyst, Pantera, Accel, Digital Currency Group, Breyer Capital, Tusk Ventures, and Blockchain Capital. However, this list excludes the former investor Goldman Sachs which recently announced its bitcoin trading desk.

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