Circle buys VC-backed Taiwan crypto infrastructure platform
Cybavo, a Taiwan-based crypto technology player that provides platforms for digital asset custody and blockchain application development, has agreed to be acquired by US digital currency specialist Circle for an undisclosed sum.
The company received USD 4m in pre-Series A funding in August 2021 led by 500 Global, H&D Asset Management, and New Economy Ventures, according to AVCJ Research. Additional commitments came from individual investors in Taiwan, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan.
Established in 2018, Cybavo is an infrastructure-as-a-service platform for digital asset custody and security. Its flagship product, Cybavo Vault, offers built-in tools to connect and interact directly with different blockchain ecosystems while enforcing adherence to internal workflows, providing anti-money laundering intelligence, and delivering corporate oversight.
Circle wants to work with the company on advancing the adoption of its USDC stablecoin and web3 applications. There are also plans to invest in, build and operate Cybavo’s products and services and incorporate them as a new crypto platform services product pillar for Circle, according to a statement.
"Circle and Cybavo share similar operating principles and values and we are aligned in the belief that the market for web3 apps will 'cross the chasm' over the next few years, expanding into major consumer and enterprise-scale applications," said Paul Fan, co-founder and CEO of Cybavo.
Circle is a peer-to-peer payments technology company. It initially gained traction with a mobile payment platform that allowed users to transact in traditional fiat currencies. In 2015, the company received the first BitLicense issued by the New York State Department of Financial Services, and in 2016, it was awarded a virtual currency license by the UK government.
Today, USDC – said to be one of the fastest-growing dollar digital currencies globally – underpins a series of internet-native commerce and payments solutions. These include transactional services, business accounts, and platform application programming interfaces (APIs).
Circle, which has received several rounds of private funding, agreed to go public last year through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) at a valuation of USD 9bn.
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