Crowdfunding

Circle Eyes Tokenized Securities with SeedInvest Acquisition

Updated on October 18, 2019

Done Deal

A deal that was first announced in October of 2018, has officially been completed – Circle has acquired SeedInvest. While announced in October, approval from FINRA was required, resulting in the delayed confirmation given today.

This deal is of more significance than most. It marks the entrance of a major company in the digital securities sector. However, this entrance shouldn’t come as a surprise, as Circle has previously underscored their belief that digital securities and stablecoins are intriguing and emerging trends.

By acquiring SeedInvest, Circle now welcomes a proficient and reputable company under their wing. Here, SeedInvest will function alongside other Circle acquisitions, such as Poloniex. SeedInvest will continue to function as they always have, and with the same team retained. This means that they will continue to be the crowdfunding platform they always have, except, now with the support of Circle – a company valued at nearly $3 billion less than a year ago.

The difference will be that, through increased resources and reach, these companies will be delving in the world of digital securities in the near future. While SeedInvest has helped over 150 start-ups raise over $100 million to date, this process could become even more productive through the tokenization of equity.

With Poloniex offering the services of an established cryptocurrency exchange, it could, one day, prove to be the perfect platform to provide secondary market trading of digital securities. In doing so, Circle will have a well-rounded suite of companies that can offer end-to-end investor services.

Commentary

Both Circle and SeedInvest released information today on their respective sites, regarding the acquisition.

Circle commented on their intentions, stating,

“Broadly, we aspire to bring the economic and technical breakthroughs of crypto assets and blockchain technology traditional forms of financial contracts such as equities and other securities. We believe that the tokenization of financial assets will ultimately unlock capital for rowing companies and investment opportunities for people everywhere. Over time, more functions of private equity will be tokenized – including voting and governance, dividend payouts, and other economic features. Tokenization will also create new opportunities for businesses to build better relationships with their customers by leveraging tokens linked to ecosystem behaviours.”

SeedInvest also touched on the significant of digital securities, and the role they will play in their future. It was stated,

“As part of Circle we will chase the remaining pieces of our original vision for SeedInvest. Since the passage of the JOBS Act, we have leveraged the Internet to streamline the startup fundraising and investing processes. We believe that tokenizing startups can take things to another level by providing liquidity, enabling capital to flow across geographic borders, and paving the path for completely new types of capital formation. And startups are just the beginning.”

Circle

Circle is a Boston based company that was founded by Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville, in 2013. Since operations began, Circle has managed to become an industry leader.

They have shown their belief in blockchain, and the role it will play in the future of finance. Recognizing this led the company to make waves 1 year ago. This was done through the $440 million purchase of crypto-exchange, Poloniex.

SeedInvest

SeedInvest is a New York based company that was founded in 2012 by Ryan Feit, and James Han. In the time since, they have grown to be one of the most successful crowdfunding campaign platforms, worldwide. Accomplishments of note in their time of operation include their participation in the passing of the 2012 JOBS Act.