With $76 million in venture capital funding and FCA e-money license, Circle begins to expand its European business on a large scale

Former bitcoin startup Circle has shifted its focus to social payments and is currently increasing its local workforce as it expands its European operations.

The digital currency company has raised $76 million in venture capital funding from sources including Goldman Sachs, Accel Partners and Pantera Capital, and this week announced that it is expanding into the U.K. market through a new partnership with Barclays.

Last month, Circle became the first virtual currency company to receive an e-money license from the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). With this license, Circle users will be able to easily use blockchain technology to make domestic or cross-border payments between US dollars and British pounds.

Circle claims that with this e-money license, users of their app will be able to transfer money across currencies at a much lower rate than traditional services. In addition, unlike other payment services, Circle's app allows users to send written messages, emojis and GIFs while transferring funds.

Circle is headquartered in Boston, USA, and has 12 employees in Ireland. It established its European headquarters in Dublin in July 2014. Circle was founded in 2013 and Jeremy Allaire , who founded online video platform Brightcove, which went public in 2012, is the company's CEO.

Euro transfers

Allaire told the Irish Times that the license issued by the FCA is valid throughout Europe. Circle intends to expand the company's services to allow euro transfers. And Circle also hopes to add Asian currencies.

“Over the course of the year, Circle will be rolling out the social payments app across Europe. Our team is excited about using the euro, so we want to get started as quickly as possible.”

Jeremy Allaire

Circle services are now available in 150 countries. For those regions where Circle services are not available, customers can first convert their funds into Bitcoin, which can then be easily converted into local currency.

Original: http://www.irishtimes.com
By Charlie Taylor
Compiled by: Kyle
Source (translation): Babbitt Information (http://www.8btc.com/circle-launches-into-uk-market)