Goldman Sachs-backed Bitcoin payment app Circle raises $60 million in funding and has begun deploying business in China

Circle, an app that focuses on Bitcoin payments, recently received $60 million in financing. In the past year, the total amount of payments made through the app has exceeded $1 billion.

Last Thursday, Circle announced the launch of its startup plan in China, and as part of its expansion into Europe, it will also provide euro transfer services.

This round of $60 million in financing was led by IDG Capital Beijing Branch. Breyer Capital (which mainly invests in cultural media, digital health, financial technology and other fields in the United States and China) in the United States also participated in this round of financing. People familiar with the matter revealed that Circle’s current market value is close to $400 million. Circle CEO and partner Jeremy Allaire told the media: "We knew that most companies would encounter a lot of trouble in the financing process, and face a big dive after valuing some "unicorn" companies. These are all true. I think Circle is very lucky to have cooperated with some excellent investors to complete a round of high-quality financing. This gives us more room for improvement."

Jeremy Allaire, CEO and partner at Circle

By using blockchain technology, Circle allows people around the world to transfer money for free. Here, US dollars and British pounds will be converted into Bitcoin, transferred to the recipient's Circle account through the network, and finally converted into local currency.

The app, which is backed by Goldman Sachs, started out as a digital wallet for bitcoin, but last year it launched a mainstream consumer payment product in the U.S. and earlier this year in the U.K. "What we do is complex and requires a fair amount of funding," said Jeremy Allaire. "When there's a market demand, it's time to raise money."

Allaire said that this round of financing started in January this year and closed about a month ago. The financing will be used for European expansion and research and development. Circle recently announced the launch of euro payment services in Spain and other European countries.

“All market expansion deployments require funds, and we are also prepared to invest a lot of money in research and development. As a company, we look more like a consumer network software company than a traditional financial institution. Therefore, half of the financing will be invested in research and development.”

Speaking of development, Allaire said, "We need to improve the development of social payments at a higher level - payments that are completed by connecting messages, contacts and your social media. We have a lot of work to do in this regard."

“Conceptually, what we’re doing is building the payment account of the future, and consumers have high expectations for it.”

Along with the announcement of this round of financing, Circle's annual transfer and payment capabilities of $1 billion were announced. Allaire also revealed that more than 100 countries in the world currently support the use of Circle, and about 70% of the usage rate comes from the UK, the US and Europe.

In addition, Circle also announced the birth of Circle China, a new subsidiary established six months ago, with seed funding from Circle's original investors. However, Allaire said that the $60 million in financing completed in this round will not be used for the development plan of Circle China.

"One of the most important things in setting up a branch in China is the regulatory factor, so in order to do business in China, we really need a branch to handle related matters."

"Circle Global holds a majority stake in the Beijing branch, but the Beijing company has its own capital base and equity investment. We are working to make it fully 'Chinese'."

Regarding China's local mobile payment and financial management market, Allaire said Circle will not try to compete with it.

"We have almost no illusions about Alibaba and Tencent in China," he said. "But what we can do is bring Chinese consumers services that connect to the U.S. and Europe and provide a smooth experience in the process."

"Circle China's business is focused on cross-border payments. If I'm in China and my son is studying at London Business School, I can make real-time remittances through the services provided by Circle in China."