Cryptocurrency exchange Poloniex is spinning out from its parent company Circle, little over a year after it was acquired for a reported $400 million.
According to a blog post from the exchange, it’ll now become an “independent international company” under the name Polo Digital Assets, Ltd., and is backed by an unnamed “major Asian investment group” that’s set to invest $100 million into the platform.
The blog post reads:
Going forward, we have a multiyear plan to spend more than $100M to develop and expand Poloniex, and we are very excited to continue working with the amazing global community of Poloniex customers.
The trading platform will, as a result of the move, no longer serve U.S. customer after this year. Those in the U.S. with an account on Poloniex have until December 15 to withdraw their funds, and trades will be suspended on November 1.
To attract users and liquidity, Poloniex will have a 0% trading fee starting on October 21, in a promotion that’s set to last until the end of the year. Circle’s co-founders Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville wrote an announcement as well, where they made it clear circle is still working to build a “more open, global and accessible financial system.”
They wrote on their post that it’s “bittersweet to see this incredible product and business spin out on its own, and added:
We’ve made enormous progress with Poloniex, including massive infrastructure improvements, adding more fiat options with USDC integration, launching best in class native apps for traders, and building global operations capabilities that can deliver excellent customer service.
Circle initially acquired Poloniex to build a broad digital asset marketplace that would include tokens that represented “everything of value.” This included real estate, physical goods, and more.
Featured image via Unsplash.
