Goldman Sachs Backed Firm Circle Acquires Poloniex
The leading cryptocurrency exchange Poloniex is being acquired by the crypto-focused financial-services firm Circle. Circle is backed by Goldman Sachs and other investors.[1]
Rumors of this acquisition have been circulating for some time, and it looks like the rumors have finally been confirmed.
2017 – 2018 has been a rather manic-depressive time, investors have gone between being hot to cold on crypto, prices have been increasing over the long term as much as they have been volatile in the short and medium term, and institutional investors, states, and large companies have shifted between positive and negative sentiments.
Despite the uncertainty, it looks like another step toward wider adoption is being taken with this acquisition.
Circle is currently focused on aiding institutional investors in crypto investing (see CircleTrade.com), so for them, this move is about branching out into the retail and spot trading market.
From Fortune.com “Circle Trade is the primary reason behind Circle’s profitability. The desk handles more than $2 billion a month in cryptocurrency transactions with a minimum deal size of $250,000. (The biggest deals run as high as $200 million.) Customers tend to fall into a few categories: early investors whose coins have soared in value; coin “mining” operations; and cryptocurrency business ventures, including other exchanges, hedge funds, and projects that have hosted “initial coin offerings.” From November through January, Circle Trade brought in more than $60 million in revenue (including several million just on the day of my visit), according to a source familiar with the company’s financials.”
One would assume that the basic structure of Poloniex would remain intact.
You can read a detailed analysis of this deal and what it means at Fortune.com. See: This Big Cryptocurrency Acquisition Could Create a Wall Street-Style Financial Giant.
Author: Thomas DeMichele
Thomas DeMichele has been working in the cryptocurrency information space since 2015 when CryptocurrencyFacts.com was created. He has contributed to MakerDAO, Alpha Bot (the number one crypto bot on Discord),...
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