Partnership lets startup Circle offer exchanges between dollars and sterling
Getty Images Circle transfers money by converting it into bitcoins first. MA MB MC MD ME MG ZF ZG ZQ ZR ZS ZT ZU
Barclays PLC has become the first U.K. bank to partner with a cryptocurrency company, teaming up with Goldman Sachs-backed social payments app Circle, which uses bitcoin to transfer money.
The Boston-based startup launched in the U.K. on Wednesday after being granted an e-money license from the Financial Conduct Authority. The license allows it to transfer money electronically, exchange currencies and make international payments. It’s the first time a digital currency company has been granted such a license from the U.K. financial watchdog.
Its partnership with Barclays (BARC.L) (BCS) means Circle can use the bank’s infrastructure to allow transfers between any U.K. bank account and the bitcoin app, as well as move pounds across the blockchain — the public ledger of transactions in bitcoin. Specifically, the London-based bank is providing the account that Circle needs to hold pounds until the money has been transferred to a user’s account. Circle isn’t licensed to hold customer cash on its own.
“We support the exploration of positive uses of blockchain that can benefit consumers and society,” Barclays said in an emailed statement.
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