Circle Enables Bitcoin Buying and Selling in Several European Countries
Bitcoin blockchain-centric P2P Fintech firm Circle has now added support for bitcoin buying and selling in several European countries beyond the UK.
Six months after bitcoin exchange and services firm Circle saw an electronic money license granted by the British government, the company is pushing on to other countries in Europe.
Users from sixteen countries including the likes of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and Spain will now be able to link their Euro-based credit and debit cards. Notably, there are no fees for buying bitcoin with debit cards, making Circle stand out in a growing list of global digital currency exchanges extending support to Europe.
Furthermore, 9 out of the 16 countries will enable its users to hold Euros, as well as bitcoin, in their Circle accounts. A complete list of supported countries can be found here .
The feature comes during the days following the European Central Bank pushed for tighter controls on bitcoin across the European Union, urging its members to explicitly state that the cryptocurrency cannot be considered a legal currency, or money.
Earlier this year in April 2016, Circle was granted an electronic money license by Financial Conduct Authority, Britain’s primary financial regulator. The official license was in itself a milestone for the bitcoin industry. With it, US-based Circle enabled US and UK consumers to transmit value in sterling pound or U.S. dollars, over the bitcoin blockchain.
Incidentally, Circle was also the first bitcoin company to receive the state of New York’s first-ever BitLicense, in November 2015. The well-funded Fintech startup continues to advocate for the development of public blockchains over the frenzied rush among the financial industry to develop private, permissioned blockchain solutions.
In an earlier blog , Circle’s co-founders stated:
We’d be thrilled if everyone in the world enjoyed Circle, but people benefit most if Circle is part of an open global network of value exchange with thousands of other software providers, online services, and financial institutions who are connecting to and innovating on public blockchains.
Circle’s global expansion plan received a boost in mid-2016, when the bitcoin startup completed a $60 million round of funding in China.
