Circle, a global crypto finance company, is seeking to become a fully licensed bank in U.S., Bloomberg reports.
Circle is hoping to receive a federal banking license in order to expand its services while at the same time registering itself with the U.S. Security and Exchange Comission (SEC) as a brokerage and trading venue.
These plans have been commented on by the Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire in an interview to Bloomberg.
“It’s uncharted territory: No venture that began in the largely unchecked world of digital currencies has obtained such status with U.S. regulators. While getting a banking license would subject it to tough scrutiny, the move would winnow the field of regulators Circle must appease because federal laws would pre-empt a patchwork of state rules covering crypto.”
Becoming a fully licensed bank would mean that customers assets could be held as cryptocurrencies or as traditional, tangible currencies. The company would now gain access to new parts of the financial system which are not accessible by regular cryptocurrency exchanges.
Circle is set to bringing its know-how of being a cryptocurrency assets steward to a highly regulated traditional financial system. It's also clear that banks are interested in becoming a part of the growing crypto-market and Circle could be the experiment financial world is looking for.
By Nadya Astam