Following its invite-only launch in May, Circle is announcing global availability of its Bitcoin-powered financial platform.

Circle is trying to appeal to the mainstream while using virtual currency as its backbone. The idea is to combine the instant, global, secure and free nature of Bitcoin transactions with the insurance and ease-of-use expected from a consumer financial service. With today’s launch, customers in any country can sign up for their own accounts, but only US residents will be able to link their bank accounts.

In keeping with its international ambitions, Circle has also added localizations for Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese (Brazilian), Spanish (Latin American), German and French.

Circle today also announced plans to release its iOS and Android apps soon. The apps are currently in beta.

➤ Circle

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