Circle Intros Digital Assets Portal for Businesses
USD Coin issuer Circle Internet Financial, LLC has launched the Circle Account, allowing business customers to deposit, withdraw, send, receive, store and allocate funds to invest in digital currency, according to a Wednesday (Feb. 23) press release.
In announcing the new account, Circle cited Gartner research from December showing that 20% of businesses will use “digital currencies for payments, stored value or collateral by 2024.” The Circle Account smooths the transition to using digital currencies, including USDC, the company says.
Accredited investors can use it to allocate funds into Circle Yield to generate higher yields on their USDC by investing it into crypto-capital markets through a fixed-term investment that is secured and overcollateralized with bitcoin.
“The new, revamped Circle Account is laser focused on delivering an upgraded, dynamic experience to our business customers, making it the go-to destination for payments and treasury activity,” Circle VP of Product Rachel Mayer said in the company announcement.
The new Circle Account allows customers to send and receive USDC on eight different blockchains, realize near-instant transfers via Signet and the Silvergate Exchange Network (SEN), download transaction history, view balance summaries and earn returns via Circle Yield, per the release.
It uses multi-factor authentication and multi-user support and transactions using USDC on Ethereum, Algorand, Solana, Stellar, TRON, Hedera, Avalanche and Flow.
Related: Circle Valued at $9B Following New SPAC Agreement
Last week, Circle partnered with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Concord Acquisition Corp. that values the company at $9 billion, saying the deal replaces its earlier SPAC deal with Concord announced in July, when Circle was valued at $4.5 billion.
USDC’s circulation has more than doubled since the original deal was announced, reaching $52.5 billion by mid-February.
The agreement has the approval of both companies’ boards and is subject to approval from shareholders and other closing conditions.
“Being a public company will further strengthen trust and confidence in Circle and is a critical milestone as we continue our mission to build a more inclusive financial ecosystem,” said Jeremy Allaire, Circle’s co-founder and CEO. “Making this journey with Concord under our new agreement is a strategic accelerator.”