Circle Becomes 'Bitcoin Unicorn' With Bitmain-Backed Mega-Round

Announced Tuesday, Circle has closed a $110 million Series E fundraising, a figure that effectively values the startup at over $3 billion, according to figures from the company.

In this way, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire framed the round as one that helps it position itself as a true conglomerate of cryptocurrency services, as opposed to just an exchange or payment startup, both characterizations having been given to the company in the past.

More than a technical novelty, Allaire positioned the stablecoin project as essential to Circle's maturation and continued expansion, painting it as integral for its mobile payments application, its over-the-counter trading business and its exchange service.

It's this vision, Allaire said, that made Bitmain, the controversial cryptocurrency mining giant, a natural fit to lead the funding round.

As noted by Allaire, the play is a strategic one that finds Circle taking aim at one of the most important elements of the crypto economy.

It's important to note that Circle will be seeking to take an open approach to its USD-C token, framing it as an open-source project with a more robust governance model.

"Circle can be an issuer of US dollar coin, Square could be an issuer. If I got US dollar coins from Circle, I could transmit those to another digital wallet for an issuer," he explained.

If all the conversation about exchanges and crypto-plumbing lead to perceptions that Circle is straying from its more consumer-focused products, Allaire was quick to push back.

With the funding, the company is also publishing a new white paper on its stablecoin work, as well as an FAQ that will seek to educate others on they can engage in this new market Circle hopes to steward.

Still, the overall message was that this is an effort to bring an opaque offshore market back into the regulated cryptocurrency economy, as Allaire said CENTRE will require members to undergo compliance and balance sheet audits to ensure assets are properly backed.