Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

Circle Internet Financial’s Jeremy Allaire Talks Up Some Bitcoin (Video)

The digital currency startup got a lot of real dollars for making it easier to use digital currency.

Recently, I had longtime tech entrepreneur Jeremy Allaire for a visit at Re/code Global HQ to talk about his latest startup, Circle Internet Financial.

The digital currency company just raised $17 million, for a total of $26 million from a range of venture capitalists and other investors.

So what does Circle do for all this cash? It’s betting on cash-killer bitcoin, of course!

As Jason Del Rey noted in a recent post:

Circle is a website where people can purchase and store bitcoin. Users can also send bitcoin to other individuals or to a company that accepts bitcoin as a form of payment. Other new companies do similar things, but mostly charge for some piece of their service.

Coinbase, for example, lets people buy bitcoin, but the company charges a one percent fee to do so. A new startup called Xapo will store your bitcoin data and backup data in physical locked vaults, but charges a small fee for that privilege.

Circle is choosing not to charge for anything. Its goal is to get as many people familiar with bitcoin as possible by making it easier to sign up and use bitcoin.

Early days, but here’s my video interview with Allaire — who created the publicly traded online video company Brightcove — talking about it all:

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

More in Technology

Technology
The case for AI realismThe case for AI realism
Technology

AI isn’t going to be the end of the world — no matter what this documentary sometimes argues.

By Shayna Korol
Politics
OpenAI’s oddly socialist, wildly hypocritical new economic agendaOpenAI’s oddly socialist, wildly hypocritical new economic agenda
Politics

The AI company released a set of highly progressive policy ideas. There’s just one small problem.

By Eric Levitz
Future Perfect
Human bodies aren’t ready to travel to Mars. Space medicine can help.Human bodies aren’t ready to travel to Mars. Space medicine can help.
Future Perfect

Protecting astronauts in space — and maybe even Mars — will help transform health on Earth.

By Shayna Korol
Podcasts
The importance of space toilets, explainedThe importance of space toilets, explained
Podcast
Podcasts

Houston, we have a plumbing problem.

By Peter Balonon-Rosen and Sean Rameswaram
Technology
What happened when they installed ChatGPT on a nuclear supercomputerWhat happened when they installed ChatGPT on a nuclear supercomputer
Technology

How they’re using AI at the lab that created the atom bomb.

By Joshua Keating
Future Perfect
Humanity’s return to the moon is a deeply religious missionHumanity’s return to the moon is a deeply religious mission
Future Perfect

Space barons like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk don’t seem religious. But their quest to colonize outer space is.

By Sigal Samuel