Circle Launches 'Circle Impact' to Improve Financial Inclusion, Digital Financial Literacy and Humanitarian Response via Digital Currency

BOSTON, Nov. 17, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Circle Internet Financial, LLC, a global internet finance firm that provides payments and financial infrastructure to businesses of all sizes today announced the launch of Circle Impact. The initiative is dedicated to measurably improving three key areas of focus: financial inclusion, responsible financial service innovation, and supporting humanitarian efforts through the faster deployment of aid and relief using corruption-resistant real-time payments. 

Circle Impact is a long range, permanent initiative from Circle aligned to help fulfill the company's mission of raising global economic prosperity through the frictionless exchange of financial value. Sustaining commitments will include:

• Allocating a share of USDC dollar-denominated reserves to often underrepresented Minority-owned Depository Institutions (MDIs) and Community Banks, with the long-term goal of reaching billions of dollars in deposits over time.
• Creating programs through Circle's SeedInvest startup fundraising platform to facilitate funding startups led by women and minorities, as well as supporting broader initiatives raising economic prosperity.
• Catalyzing a Digital Finance Literacy Initiative in collaboration with leading Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the U.S. (HBCUs) and other leading institutions. Circle aims to ensure the digital financial revolution is universally accessible. Circle's staff, among whom are the world's foremost experts on blockchain-based financial services, will contribute to these efforts.
• Establishing a rapid response team designed to collaborate with aid, development and humanitarian interventions worldwide, as well as spur public-private partnerships for mobilizing faster payments using USDC.

"Circle Impact is our commitment to ensuring the future of internet-native financial services is more inclusive than its analog cousin," said Jeremy Allaire, Co-Founder and CEO of Circle. "We're investing in connecting what counts to realize the vision of raising global economic prosperity through the frictionless exchange of financial value. Our plan is to place billions of dollars in USDC reserves with minority-owned depository institutions and community banks over time, which can be transformative to communities across the United States."

Each of these focus areas is an extension of Circle's burgeoning Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) efforts to make meaningful progress - within our resource base - to improve economic prospects and prosperity. Circle Impact, its outreach, advocacy commitments and outcomes will be measured and reported on annually as a part of our impact reporting.

"Circle Impact will serve as an industry beacon and a call to action demonstrating the art of the possible in emerging, well-regulated internet native financial services based on public blockchains," said Dante Disparte, Circle's Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Global Policy. "These investments will impact U.S. economic competitiveness and improve equity and aid in continued post-pandemic recovery, while underscoring how the breakthrough of blockchain-based financial services represents a new vision for financial inclusion, innovation and integrity."

About Circle
Circle is a global financial technology firm that enables businesses of all sizes to harness the power of digital currencies and public blockchains for payments, commerce and financial applications worldwide. Circle is the principal operator of USD Coin (USDC), the leading dollar digital currency powering always-on internet-native commerce and payments with a circulation greater than $33 billion and over $1.3 trillion in on-chain transactions. Today, Circle's transactional services, business accounts, and platform APIs are giving rise to a new generation of financial services and commerce applications that hold the promise of raising global economic prosperity for all through the frictionless exchange of financial value. Additionally, Circle operates SeedInvest, one of the largest startup fundraising platforms in the U.S., which is a registered broker dealer. Learn more at https://circle.com.

SOURCE Circle Internet Financial LLC