Circle, creator of the USD Coin (USDC) has made history by securing $440 million in private investment funds. The largest investment round recorded.
According to reports, the deal made on May 28 placed Circle at the top of Forbes‘ list of largest investment rounds. Toppling the previous record holder, Bitmain, which secured a $422 million Series B1 round all the way back in 2018.
The investment comes from a range of companies, including private equity firms, as well as institutional and strategic investors. Specifically, Fidelity Management and Research Company, Marshall Wace, Digital Currency Group, FTX, and Breyer Capital are among the investors.
Company co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire issued an announcement thread of four tweets about the investment. The first in that thread stated the funds would go towards accelerating the company’s “growth and market expansion.”
“This comes on the heels of extraordinary growth in USDC adoption, and acceleration across our business,” the tweet continued.
Allaire went on to say further in the thread “We are thrilled and humbled by the support and partnership with these great investors, and excited to keep building a lasting institution that we believe can help transform the global financial system on the foundation of the open internet.”
Circle, which is known as a principal developer for the USDC stablecoin, was last valued at $3 billion. On May 14, the fintech firm made headlines as it announced its partnership with exchange FTX. The collaboration will provide payments infrastructure for internet businesses, and enable Blockfolio and FTX users to fund dollar balances with instant access. This in turn allows trades to be conducted via credit or debit card in more than 175 countries.
Reports indicate that FTX had already integrated Circle APIs and USDC payments.
History-making crypto investments in 2021
2021 is proving a year for record-breaking cryptocurrency investments. Circle’s $440 million investment is the largest in history, and its the fifth to feature in the 12 biggest crypto investments in history this year.
BlockFi, currently 3rd on that list, raised $350 million in Series D funding back in March. Nearly two weeks later, Blockchain.com secured $300 million in its Series C round. At the end of the same month, Dapper Labs secured $305 million in its fifth round.
More recently on May 5, Bitso raised $250 million in its own Series C round.
USDC rises up the ranks
At time of press, USDC ranked as the 8th most valuable cryptocurrency by market cap, according to data. Remaining the world’s second-largest stablecoin.
This is a continuing rise in its reputation, after entering the Top 10 most valuable cryptocurrencies on May 24. Hitting a milestone alongside fellow stablecoin Tether (USDT), which surpassed the $60 billion threshold for market capitalization. Data indicates that USDC’s current market cap was over $22 billion at time of press.
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