Boston-based Circle Internet Financial wants to lower the barrier of entry for using bitcoin mainstream. On Friday, the company, founded by local serial entrepreneur Jeremy Allaire, announced that it will be inviting a select crew of consumers to open Circle accounts to demystify and ease the crossover to using the cryptocurrency in everyday life.
Here’s how it works: Rather than buying and selling bitcoin, you create an account and send and receive money and make deposits and withdrawals, as you would a regular bank account. Upon a deposit, Circle instantaneously converts your flat currency no matter the country of origin into bitcoin to store it. Want to get your dollars back? No problem: Circle can also convert your bitcoin back into the local currency and transfer it to a bank of your choice.
Circle cofounders Allaire and Sean Neville announced the news in a blog post on Friday, explaining the world’s need for a reliable cryptocurrency product for the people:
This is deeply transformative, and consumer financial products and services (and more broadly, the global banking system) sorely need disruption and transformation. An open, global, digital-native platform for transacting trust is required for constructing the next phase of our planet, and elements of Bitcoin offer the best foundation for building that today.
Amazingly, Circle is also totally free to consumers. There are no fees for deposits or withdrawals, or to secure your money in bitcoin with Circle. The accounts can be accessed via a smartphone, tablet or PC, and if any questions crop up along the way, Circle’s team will be available to field questions by phone – an effort to build trust and confidence in their digital asset storage play.
The company also outlined a number of serious security measures it has undertaken to ensure that the product stays lock-tight from hackers, along offline cold storage vaults, insurance from theft and a full reserve of bitcoin.
Interestingly, the blog post also makes mention that Circle in headquartered in Dublin with operations in the United States. “We are building a company with the expectation that the vast majority of our customers will live outside North America,” reads the post.
Circle will be sending out waves of invitations to prospective users from around the world over the next few months. Go here to request an invite.
What do you think of Circle’s bitcoin bid? Let us know in the comments below.
