Blockchain-based payments startup Circle made two major announcements – a $110 million Series E round and tokenized US dollar coins “USD Coin.”
The funding round was led by Bitmain and drew support from existing investors including IDG Capital, Breyer Capital, General Catalyst, Accel, Digital Currency Group, and Pantera, and new investors Blockchain Capital and Tusk Ventures.
Circle on Tuesday announced the pending availability of tokenized US dollar coins, which is being supported by CENTRE and Bitmain. CENTRE, a governed network powered by price-stable crypto assets, was unveiled by Circle last October and has raised $20 million in initial funding.
Circle USDC (USD Coin) will be ERC-20 tokens minted, issued, and redeemed based on network rules defined by CENTRE. It will enable customers to purchase and use USDC fiat tokens for payments and trading in the crypto ecosystem.
In a blog post, Circle co-founders Sean Neville and Jeremy Allaire explained that stablecoin – price-stable currency, such as a token pegged to the USD – is critical for the mainstream adoption of blockchain technology for payments and supporting maturation in financial contracts built on smart contract platforms.
While existing fiat-backed approaches have lacked transparency, Circle USDC will provide “detailed financial and operational transparency, and [operate] within the regulated framework of US money transmission laws, and reinforced by established banking partners and auditors. It is built on an open source framework with an open membership scheme that eligible Financial Institutions (FI) can participate in (CENTRE).”
“USDC provides a full reserve US dollar-backed stablecoin, and is based on the open source fiat stablecoin framework developed and governed by CENTRE, which will provide independent oversight of Circle’s offering.”
Circle will be the first issuing member of the CENTRE network. Bitmain will also join CENTRE’s efforts to introduce multiple fiat-backed stablecoins and provide financial interoperability around the world.
“This partnership will help drive global interoperability that benefits consumers, business ventures, institutions, and marketplaces everywhere. Specifically, Bitmain will help CENTRE introduce multiple fiat stablecoins in a variety of geo-currency zones,” they added.
