Crypto brokerage firm Voyager has acquired the retail-focused Circle Invest app from Circle in an all-stock deal.
In a February 12th press release announcing the acquisition, Voyager Digital Canada, the operator of US digital broker Voyager, said that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Circle Invest, the retail digital asset business from Circle Internet Financial, Inc.
According to the deal, Voyager will issue its common shares to Circle, representing nearly a 4% ownership stake. The Voyager did not reveal the exact completion date of the acquisition but told that the majority of Circle Invest customers are expected to be converted to the Voyager Platform by the end of March of this year.
According to Voyager, this acquisition will add more than 40,000 retail accounts to its platform which will make the company “one of the largest digital-asset-only agency brokers in the U.S., servicing over 200,000 global users across its platforms.”
Stephen Ehrlich, co-Founder and CEO of Voyager, commented:
“This product line acquisition signifies a tremendous development for Voyager as we welcome a substantial number of new users to our platform. This transaction also helps us deliver on our promise to investors, providing regulated brokerage services and resources to as many users as possible in the digital asset marketplace. Going forward, we remain committed to building best-in-class features for the Voyager Platform to empower investors and bring into the mainstream the most revolutionary asset class to date.”
Boston-based Circle launched its the retail-focused Circle Invest app in March of 2018. The app currently supports a total of 13 cryptocurrencies and tokens. This transition will give Circle Invest user access to unique features of Voyager. The broker promises Circle Invest users commission-free trading of more than 30 crypto assets, on-chain access and lock-up free interest yield.
Circle has gone through many changes in recent past months. The firm laid off around 10 employees, following its co-founder Sean Neville’s exit on December 5, 2019.
As Crypto Economy reported, the company also sold its Circle Trade over-the-counter (OTC) desk to crypto exchange Kraken to deepen their focus on its stablecoin project dollars on public blockchains (USDC).
Rachel Mayer, director of product management at Circle, commented:
“We’re very happy to be able to provide Circle Invest customers with a broader depth of retail investment features through the transaction with Voyager. This transition comes at a time when Circle is launching new platform services and products for businesses around the world to help them bring the benefits of stablecoins into their products and grow global commerce in new and innovative ways.”
