Circle Internet Financial's recently announced plans to provide payments and financial infrastructure for internet businesses and expand operations in Bermuda are a sign of things to come, a company executive said in a recent news release.
The payments and financial infrastructure, along with the planned expansion in Bermuda, are part of Circle's overall market expansion strategy and an effort to support corporate treasury demand for yield, the July 15 news release said.
"Circle is growing globally to support its yield product, including across compliance and risk roles, as well as customer-facing operations and sales," said Circle Chief Operating Officer Elisabeth Carpenter. "We look forward to developing Bermuda as a center of excellence as part of that growth. In the near term, we are committing to a $100,000 initial investment in skills transfer and talent development for the Bermudian community. In the even more immediate term, we welcome community members to apply for roles they see on circle.com's career page for which they are qualified. We are thrilled not only for Circle to scale, but for Circle's footprint in Bermuda to scale as well."
The news release also announced that the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) recently expanded oversight of Circle's Class F (Full) Digital Asset Business Act 2018 (DABA) license to include Circle Yield, the company's new high yield offering.
Changes at Circle also were announced during a news conference in Bermuda the same day as the news release.
"Today is a proud day for Bermuda and for Circle as they launch their internationally recognized product from right here on our island," Bermuda Premier David Burt said during a July 15 news conference.
Burt said he met Circle's Co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2019, where they "discussed Bermuda's already strong and internationally recognized regulatory framework and how the government was working to create a Fintech ecosystem that would make Bermuda the ideal location for Fintech companies to establish a physical presence."
Since then, Circle became the first Digital Asset Business to receive a Class F DABA license from the BMA and, in November, Circle announced plans to introduce short and medium-term high-yield interest rate business accounts.
More recently, Circle received approval from the BMA to offer yield interest products to its business clients, becoming the world's first regulated crypto yield product.
Circle also has announced plans to take the company public, Burt said during the news conference.
"So, here we are two and a half years from the time Jeremy and I first met," Burt said. "Circle is here in Bermuda, their entire leadership team is here and the next steps on this productive journey can begin. This is a shining example of this government’s vision for Bermuda to be a country where companies like Circle can feel free to build the future of finance, feel free to create the technologies, and build the tools that will power innovation."