Goldman Sachs-backed startup Circle acquires major cryptocurrency exchange Poloniex

Goldman Sachs-backed cryptocurrency startup, Circle, announced today it has acquired the digital token exchange Poloniex. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Founded in 2014 by  Tristan D’Agosta, Poloniex is a cryptocurrency exchange that offers over 100 bitcoin (BTC) markets available for trading.  Circle is backed by $140 million in venture capital from investors including Goldman Sachs, IDG Capital Partners, Breyer Capital, Accel Partners, General Catalyst Partners, Baidu, CICC Alpha, EverBright, WangXiang and CreditEase.

Poloniex provides its customers with a secure trading environment as well as advanced charts and data analysis tools. The platform enables its users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies such as litecoin, namecoin, dogecoin, and more. Users of Poloniex are required to be 18 years of age or older. With no deposit or withdrawal fees, it charges a flat rate of 0.2% on all trading transactions. Poloniex said on its website that Circle will immediately begin working alongside the Poloniex team to address customer support and expand operations so that we can continue to scale effectively going forward.

“Since our humble beginnings in 2014, we at Poloniex have been strong believers in the power of cryptocurrencies to change the way that people store and exchange value around the world. With the support of an incredible community of dedicated users and early believers, we’ve grown faster and accomplished more than we ever thought possible. In working closely with the Circle team to formalize our union, we have found a shared vision for a future in which decentralized cryptocurrency protocols create a far more open, inclusive, and evenly distributed global economy. Circle has been a leading liquidity provider to institutions and investors across a broad number of crypto assets since the early days of the industry. They have pioneered the creation of seamless consumer experiences around value exchange with Circle Pay and the forthcoming Circle Invest. With Circle’s depth of experience, we could not imagine a better strategic partner to help us scale Poloniex beyond this phase of initial growth,” Poloniex said in a company release.

Circle Internet Financial is a closely held mobile-payments firm backed by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Circle is a peer-to-peer payments technology company. It was founded by Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville in October 2013. Circle’s mobile payment platform, Circle Pay, allows users to hold, send, and receive traditional fiat currencies.

With Circle, anyone can send and transfer money like everything else online — whether your friends are in the same room or a different country.  The deposits held in US dollars are FDIC-insured up to $250,000. Plus, your account details are double encrypted and you can enable two-step verification and fingerprint ID. The company also has a trading operation, which handles about $2 billion in crypto trading a month with large institutional buyers and sellers. Minimum order size for the tradition side of the business is $250,000. Circle is also working on a mobile app that will let people easily invest in crypto assets.