According to Bloomberg News, Circle Internet Financial Ltd., which issues USD Coin, the second-largest stable coin, has landed $400 million in funding from BlackRock Inc. and Fidelity Management and Research LLC.
The partnership between BlackRock and Circle
New York-based BlackRock entered into a partnership with Circle, based in Boston, and includes USD Coin’s capital market applications, aside from serving as stablecoin’s cash reserves’ primary asset manager. As per a statement issued on Tuesday, the other investors comprise Fin Capital and Marshall Wace LLP, as per a statement issued on Tuesday.
The recent investment emphasizes how the biggest players of Wall Street are preparing to embrace a broader migration to cryptocurrencies and related technologies. Last month, the Chief Executive Officer of BlackRock, Larry Fink, said that the company is trying to understand by studying how stable coins and digital currencies can help clients.
According to the Chief Operating Officer of BlackRock, Rob Goldstein, and Salim Ramji, who is the global head of index investments and exchange-traded funds, stated in a memo to employees on Tuesday that they believe digital assets, as well as blockchain technologies, will become increasingly relevant to clients and BlackRock. The company has also been carrying out work related to stablecoins, tokenization of ownership for a wide range of asset types, and crypto assets and permissioned blockchains.
Bloomberg News reports that stablecoins were found pegging to government-backed currencies like the euro and dollar, which are part of the crypto since investors use them to sell and buy digital currencies known to be volatile. USD Coin, which is presently the fifth largest cryptocurrency, has a market value worth more than $50 billion, as per CoinGecko. In terms of market value, USD Coin is the largest after Tether.
Jeremy Allaire, the Circle chief executive officer, said in a statement that USDC or digital dollar currencies are fostering global economic transformation globally. He also said that it is gratifying to have BlackRock as one of the strategic investors in the firm. He also said that they look forward to developing a lasting partnership.
Circle revamped the planned merger terms in February with Concord Acquisition Corp, the unique purpose acquisition firm, with the value of the transaction doubling up to $9 billion.
