Boston’s most prominent Bitcoin startup has a lot more dollars to work with as of today: Circle, the digital currencies startup founded by Brightcove (BCOV) founder Jeremy Allaire, announced it has raised $50 million in new funding.
The Series C round was described as a “strategic investment” co-led by Goldman Sachs and IDG Capital Partners. The Boston-based company has now raised $76 million since its founding in 2013.
In September, Circle debuted consumer accounts for easier conversion, storage and transfers of Bitcoin.
On Thursday, Circle also announced that it will allow users to transfer U.S. dollars through its service, as well. From a Circle news release:
Customers with dollar accounts gain all of the benefits of digital currency -- instant, secure and free payments to anyone in the world -- without holding or explicitly converting dollars into bitcoins. Dollar account balances held by Circle customers are FDIC-insured.
Circle is “enabling customer accounts selectively [for U.S. dollars], and we will add more every week until the feature is generally available,” the release said.
Other investors taking part in the new round included existing backers Breyer Capital, General Catalyst Partners, Accel Partners, Oak Investment Partners and other investors.
Image via Circle
