Kraken, the San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange, announced that it has acquired Circle’s over-the-counter (OTC) desk.
https://t.co/MSL6lFVRtL — Genesis Ecology (@EcologyGenesis) December 18, 2019
On December 17, it has been reported that Kraken said that the company has bought “one of the most recognized OTC desks in crypto.”
Sean Neville and Jeremy Allaire, the Co-founders of Circle, confirmed the sale of the Circle Trade OTC business to Kraken.
Neville and Allaire stated:
“We have known and admired Jesse and his team at Kraken for many years, and we have every confidence and expectation that Circle Trade customers and partners will continue to find best-in-class OTC liquidity service and responsiveness through Kraken going forward. Circle Trade represents an enormous success for the industry as well as for Circle, and we’re excited to see Kraken grow it further.”
However, according to Neville and Allaire, the sale of Circle’s OTC desk is part of its “sharpened 2020 product roadmap,” in which the company states that it needs to focus effectively on its stablecoin platforms by reducing complexity, tightening its product portfolio, and reorganize its teams to execute with greater agility.
It has been analyzed that Circle laid off another ten employees in early December.
Likewise, a representative of Circle told that the company streamlined some departments and eliminated about 10 roles. The spokesperson also confirmed that the company was looking to focus on its stablecoin, USD Coin (USDC).
<img src="https://i1.wp.com/www.cryptonewspoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/kraken-glitch-cover.jpg?fit=1024%2C640&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-7066 lazyload" width="463" height="289" />
However, Kraken expects this acquisition to “significantly bolster” its services, as it hopes to provide new global trading partners, deeper liquidity and tighter spreads across all supported assets, and improved trader tools that will help streamline the trade process from quote to settlement.
As Neville launched Circle with Allaire in 2013, both of them directed many of the changes in recent years, including a pivot away from Bitcoin (BTC) and Poloniex in 2018.
Source: blog.kraken.com | blog.circle.com | cointelegraph.com