Circle Launches Venture Fund

The stablecoin giant is the latest firm looking to invest in early-stage blockchain projects.

article-image

Blockworks exclusive art by axel Rangel

share

key takeaways

  • Achieving “global economic prosperity through the frictionless exchange of financial value” will take many projects and companies, Circle CFO says
  • Among Circle’s first investments was in JPY Coin (JPYC), which is growing its prepaid stablecoin denominated in Japanese Yen

Circle is the latest company to launch a venture fund to invest in early-stage blockchain projects and companies. 

The Boston-based peer-to-peer payments technology company is the principal operator of USD Coin (USDC) as well as fundraising platform SeedInvest. The portfolio companies of the new fund, called Circle Ventures, will have access to SeedInvest’s network of over 500,000 investors.

“Circle’s mission is to raise global economic prosperity through the frictionless exchange of financial value,” Circle CFO Jeremy Fox-Green wrote in a Tuesday blog post. “Achieving it is ambitious and will take a village of many, many people and projects and companies to develop the technologies, the products and protocols needed to get us there.”

A spokesperson for the company told Blockworks that Circle does not yet know how much money it will ultimately invest in such companies that accelerate its mission.   

Circle Ventures has already deployed initial capital and is looking to the community of entrepreneurs, developers and innovators in the blockchain ecosystem to help identify opportunities for future deployments.

Among the first investments was in JPY Coin (JPYC), which is growing its prepaid stablecoin denominated in Japanese Yen, a Circle representative noted. The capital was deployed in JPYC alongside Headline Asia.

Circle is focused on leveling the playing field for entrepreneurs and individual investors, Fox-Green added in the blog post.

“In this rapidly changing world, we are all growing and learning and evolving, and we have no way of knowing what will happen over time,” he wrote. “Perhaps one day some of these projects will be Circle customers, but that is not our goal today. We want to accelerate our mission, and believe that the substantial benefits of doing so will accrue to us all over time.”

Circle Ventures is the latest example of investment in young blockchain projects and companies as capital into the space has accelerated. 

An all-time high of $17 billion had been invested into crypto projects in 2021, as of mid-June. Venture capitalists had put a record $21.4 billion toward cryptocurrency and blockchain-related companies as of Sept. 30, according to market data provider Pitchbook, the New York Times recently reported.

Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, also known as a16z, announced a $2.2 billion crypto fund in June. In September, private equity firm 10T Holdings announced that it had raised $750 million for its first two growth equity funds focused on digital asset companies, and Pantera Capital revealed a blockchain fund that is targeting $600 million.

Most recently, Cadenza Ventures raised $50 million for its crypto fund that will invest in crypto platforms and blockchain technologies internationally.

Andreessen Horowitz said in a blog post on Monday that it led a Series B investment in Matter Labs, the architect of zkSync, a solution that uses zero-knowledge proofs to scale Ethereum in a way that preserves its values of decentralization and security.

Pantera Capital’s blockchain fund has invested in nine early-stage token projects and two venture equity deals, and has a record pipeline, Pantera CEO Dan Morehead said in his latest blockchain letter published on Tuesday. In addition to investments into the gaming and NFT sectors, Morehead noted investments into layer-2 scaling solution Arbitrum and crypto platform BitOasis.


Get the day’s top crypto news and insights delivered to your inbox every evening. Subscribe to Blockworks’ free newsletter now.


Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Research Report Templates (19).png

Research

Suilend has grown into the top money market and liquid staking provider on Sui. STEAMM, Suilend’s Superfluid AMM, presents a compelling avenue for growing market share within Sui’s DEX landscape and revenue generation for the protocol. Suilend’s multi-product suite position it well for owning market share across key verticals. While current metrics across the Sui ecosystem are likely inflated due to Sui Foundation incentive programs, SEND trades at amongst the lowest multiples in the lend/borrow sector, suggesting that a bull case for continued growth in the ecosystem may be mispriced.

article-image

The stablecoin issuer now plans to offer 32 million Class A common stock shares at a price of up to $28 each

article-image

Let’s go whale watching, Bitcoin style: Investigating the mysterious “12ib7” wallet now worth $3.2 billion

article-image

Bitget’s L2 is undergoing a leadership change and will be helmed by Colin Goltra, formerly the blockchain’s chief growth officer

article-image

The funding was spread out across 61 rounds, a slight dip in both number of rounds and total funding in comparison to other months

article-image

Why is it controversial to say things are better than they used to be?

article-image

Wallchain could make influencer ROI more measurable for Solana businesses