Circle to Become First Company to Offer Institutional-Grade Bridge to Booming DeFi Economy

BOSTON, June 24, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Circle, a global financial technology firm that provides payments and financial infrastructure for internet businesses, today announced that it will soon be releasing a product that will allow institutions to confidently access new lending markets powered by decentralized finance (DeFi).

That means businesses will have institutional-grade access to leading DeFi protocols, beginning with Compound Protocol, to take advantage of the explosive growth of DeFi in a way that is automated, secure, and facilitated by Circle's trusted and insured accounts infrastructure.

All of this will be possible by combining– for the first time ever – Circle's leading payments and treasury infrastructure with Circle's soon-to-be-launched DeFi API. Circle's DeFi API simplifies what has been historically a complex, risky, and cumbersome process for many institutions. With Circle's DeFi API, institutions will be able to:

• Automate flows of USD Coin (USDC) into DeFi markets
• Earn interest and governance tokens
• Manage it all with Circle's trusted and insured account infrastructure

"The recent explosion in DeFi infrastructure foreshadows a deeper breakthrough in the delivery of capital markets and financial services," said Jeremy Allaire, CEO and Co-founder of Circle.  "Offering the world's first institutional-grade bridge to DeFi is another big step in our journey to provide businesses with a comprehensive suite of digital currency-native payments and treasury infrastructure. And we're proud that we'll be able to do it right out of the gate with Compound, one of the leading DeFi protocols on the Ethereum blockchain."

USDC's role in fueling the growth in DeFi is undeniable. More than $1.3 billion in USDC as collateral has been deposited into the Compound protocol, the most of any stablecoin on the platform as of June 23, 2021, according to publicly available data. The Compound protocol has itself played an essential role in taking DeFi mainstream.

USDC has experienced tremendous growth, decisively becoming the fastest growing and most widely adopted fully reserved and compliant dollar digital currency. USDC in circulation has grown from just over 400 million in early 2020 to over 25 billion as of June 22, according to Nomics. USDC adoption has expanded across trading, payments, savings, lending, and other use cases in blockchain finance. Today, thousands of companies in the blockchain ecosystem have integrated support for USDC in their products and services.

With USDC, Circle Accounts, our new Circle Yield offering and now our DeFi API, Circle is providing businesses with a comprehensive suite of digital currency-native payments and treasury infrastructure.

Businesses wanting to get on the waitlist for Circle's DeFi API can do so here.

About Circle
Circle is a global financial technology firm that enables businesses of all sizes to harness the power of stablecoins and public blockchains for payments, commerce and financial applications worldwide. Circle's platform has supported more than 100 million transactions by more than 10 million retail customers and more than 1,000 businesses. Circle is also a principal developer of USD Coin (USDC), which together with Coinbase and the Centre Consortium oversees the standards and protocol for what has become the fastest growing, regulated, fully reserved dollar digital currency. USDC now stands at more than 25 billion and has supported over $700 billion in transactions over the past year. Today, Circle's transactional services, business accounts, and platform APIs are giving rise to a new generation of financial services and commerce applications that hold the promise of raising global economic prosperity for all through programmable internet commerce. Learn more at https://circle.com

SOURCE Circle Internet Financial LLC