Circle has announced the addition of four new digital assets to the
Circle Invest platform, bringing the total number of listed
cryptocurrencies on the platform to 11.
Announcing the news in a blog post,
Circle revealed the new additions to be EOS, Stellar, 0x and Qtum.
Circle further revealed that the four assets can be purchased through
the Circle Invest platform either individually or as part of a basket
using the “Buy the Market” retail portfolio investment feature.
New Feature and Listing Rationale
According to Circle’s blog post, the four crypto assets were chosen
for listing based on their suitability, which was determined by the Circle Asset Framework.
CCN reported in June that under the Circle Asset Framework, each asset
to be evaluated on its own strengths, and under no circumstances are any
fees paid to aid listing. This helps to ensure the integrity of the
process and gives customers the confidence that only the best assets are
listed on Circle platforms.
In order to help customers fully appreciate the value of every asset
on Circle Invest, the company also announced the introduction of a new
feature called “Explore.” This feature will help users gain insight into
crypto investment with contextual and relevant information on the
various aspects of crypto. Circle hopes that this simplification tool
alongside the user-friendly interface of Circle Invest will help it in
its mission to take crypto trading tot he mass market.
On the subject of why the four currencies specifically were chosen
for listing, the blog post mentions that EOS promises to improve upon
the Ethereum framework, especially regarding the number of transactions
per second that can be held. Where the Ethereum blockchain can handle
only 15 transactions per second, EOS has a proven capacity of several
thousand transactions per second.
Stellar on its part, offers a low cost, high-speed cross-border
payments solution, disrupting the current paradigm of international fiat
payments which sometimes take weeks and charge up to 10 percent
commissions. A typical Stellar cross-border transaction is completed in
five seconds and costs less than a penny.
0x creates a framework for peer-to-peer crypto trading directly over
the Ethereum blockchain through the use of “Relayers” that serve as
exchanges built atop the 0x protocol. Finally, Qtum offers users the
best of both bitcoin and ethereum, having been built as a hybrid of both
assets.
Since releasing Circle Invest in March, the platform has aggressively courted increased market share, listing Zcash and Monero in May.
