Circle Partners With BlackRock, Reveals $400M Funding Round
- BlackRock, the main asset manager for the USDC cash reserves, will now explore the capital market applications for the USDC stablecoin.
- The $400 million funding round, which is expected to complete in the second quarter, will see participation from Fidelity, Marshall Wace, Fin Capital, and BlackRock.
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Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, has entered into an agreement for a $400 million funding round that is expected to close in the second quarter of 2022, the company said in a press release on 12 April.
According to the announcement, the funding round will see investments from several prominent firms, including investment advisory company Fidelity Management and Research, hedge fund Marshall Wace, Fin Capital, and the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock. The funding round aims to promote Circle’s development, and the growing demand for a USD-based digital currency. The co-founder and CEO of Circle, Jeremy Allaire, said in a statement:
“Dollar digital currencies like USDC are fueling a global economic transformation, and Circle’s technology infrastructure sits at the center of that change. This funding round will drive the next evolution of Circle’s growth.”
The funding round was no the only announcement on Tuesday, with Circle revealing it had entered into a new “broader strategic partnership with BlackRock. In addition to being the main asset manager for the USDC cash reserves, BlackRock will now explore the capital market applications for the USDC stablecoin.
USDC is currently the fifth largest cryptocurrency, and second largest stablecoin, by market cap with almost $51 billion in circulation across multiple blockchains. The issuer of the stablecoin, Circle, announced back in February its intentions of going public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Concord Acquisition Corp, at a valuation of $9 billion.
- SVB Financial Group has filed for a Chapter 11 court-supervised reorganization in the U.S. in order to “preserve value”.
- The company stressed it is no longer affiliated with Silicon Valley Bank, the closure of which sent ripples across the crypto industry.
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- Despite the events of last week, Circle has been able to clear almost all USDC backlog, and redeemed $3.8 billions USDC between March 13 and March 15.
- The stablecoin issuer also went live with a new transaction banking partner for both domestic and international wires, and expects to bring more capabilities back soon.
- NYDFS took possession of Signature in order to protect the economy and strengthen the confidence in the banking system, and assured customers that all deposits will be returned.
- The price of USDC also started to recover after its issuer, Circle, revealed that all stablecoin reserves held at Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) were safe, and that the company had new banking partners.