An app that uses the technology behind bitcoin, the digital currency, is launching in the UK with the support of Barclays.

The Circle app will allow customers to transfer money with messages and emojis, and make currency transfers between pounds and dollars. Euros will be added later.

Barclays is providing Circle, which is based in Boston and backed with investments by Goldman Sachs, the infrastructure to operate in the UK.

Circle has received an e-money licence from the Financial Conduct Authority, which has granted about 80 such permissions although this is the first one for a company operating a digital currency. The FCA does not regulate bitcoin.

Jeremy Allaire, co-founder and chief executive of Circle, said customers would not be buying bitcoin through the app, which allows money transfers without fees. Circle uses bitcoin to facilitate transfers for customers outside its own system.



Transactions in bitcoin are registered on a blockchain, a kind of electronic ledger, which Circle uses to make transactions.

Customer deposits will be held by Barclays, which is also providing the mechanism to make transfers from any UK bank account in and out of Circle.

“For the first time ever, any consumer in the US or UK can instantly send value, without fees, and with the convenience of sending an email or text. US dollars and pound sterling are becoming more digital and global,” said Allaire.

Circle launched in the US last year although Allaire refused to disclose any information about the number of customers using the service.

The Bank of England has warned that the digital currency could pose a threat to financial stability, although one of its deputy governors, Ben Broadbent, has also said Threadneedle Street could become the hub for such digital currencies.

The government – which wants to make the UK a centre for innovation in financial technology, known as FinTech – took credit for the launch of Circle.

Harriett Baldwin, economic secretary to the Treasury, said: “Circle’s decision to launch in the UK and the firm’s new partnership with Barclays are major milestones. Together they prove our decision to introduce the most progressive, forward-looking regulatory regime is paying off and cements our status as the world’s FinTech capital.”



Barclays said: “We can confirm that Barclays Corporate Banking has been chosen as a financial partner by Circle, and we support the exploration of positive uses of blockchain that can benefit consumers and society.”

