SeedInvest, a company registered with the SEC and FINRA as a broker-dealer, and ranked by Inc. Magazine as the fourth fastest-growing financial services company in the United States, has entered an agreement to be acquired by Circle Internet Financial Ltd, one of the foremost cryptocurrency firms in the U.S. According to Circle, the acquisition will help startups improve their ability to raise cash with cryptocurrency.
Token Offering Hosting
Circle plans to leverage the structure of Seedinvest which helps hundreds of startups raise capital online and has built a network of over 200,000 investors. Under the new framework, investors can browse through businesses on the platform and then, depending on their eligibility, buy a piece of their favorite one using cryptocurrency.
The nature of the proposed acquisition has not been revealed but should it successfully pass through the regulatory financial vetting process, it would bring the Boston-based fintech startup closer to listing tokens that can be seen as financial securities, which is becoming increasingly more difficult at a time of unprecedented regulatory attention on the cryptocurrency space.
Circle posits that it has all the requirements needed for executing regulated crowdfunding, including startup due diligence, securities issuance, investor accreditation, payments and securities custody, in addition to a range of tools for startups to sell their crowdfunding offerings online in an amenable fashion.
Crypto Security Adoption
Offering his thoughts to Bloomberg on the potential listing of securities via the SeedInvest acquisition, Circle Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Allaire said:
This was a company who had been at the forefront of collaborating with government to figure out how to make it possible to innovate in the way people raise capital. Crypto securities are going to become a major new category of securities that ultimately every business is going to adopt, just like every business has a website.
SeedInvest also has a lot to gain from the deal, given that crypto assets and tokens can now be used by investors to raise capital and promote end-to-end services that can help startups and companies of all sizes grow.
Ryan Feit, CEO and Founder of SeedInvest expressed his belief that Circle can sustain the company’s vision which is to be the foremost platform for crowdfunding, granting access to venture capital and angel investing to everyone.
