Sei announces integration with USDC, secures strategic investment from Circle

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Sei Successfully Integrates USDC on its Blockchain, Receives Strategic Investment from Circle

Sei Blockchain, launched in August last year, recently announced a strategic investment from Circle, the issuer of the stablecoin USDC, and successfully integrated the USDC stablecoin natively onto the Sei blockchain. Stablecoins have always been a key element of the blockchain ecosystem, allowing users to transact with cryptocurrency tokens pegged to the value of traditional currencies like the US dollar on exchanges and applications such as NFT markets. USDC has been expanding its blockchain ecosystem efforts, including adding new options like NEAR and Optimism in August last year, with Sei being the latest blockchain to join.

Sei's Founder Addresses Intermediary Issues with Blockchain

One of the founders of Sei, former Robinhood engineering lead Jayendra Jog, drew inspiration to create the Sei blockchain due to management issues he encountered.

He told Fortune in April last year that it was during Robinhood's halt in trading amid the 2021 meme stock frenzy that he started contemplating building a decentralized exchange to address intermediary problems.

Realizing there was no high-speed trading blockchain that met his requirements in the market, he collaborated with Jeff Feng, former risk investor at Coatue, to develop Sei. The project successfully raised $30 million in April last year, with investors including Jump Crypto and Multicoin Capital. In the same month, Sei announced an additional $50 million in funding, which included investments from the Seychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitget and venture capital firm Foresight.

Circle Investment Boosts Sei's Application Ecosystem Expansion

Sei's native token, Sei, faced initial airdrop delays but has now reached a market cap of approximately $310 million since its official launch in August last year. The investment from Circle Ventures, the venture arm of Circle, will assist Sei in integrating USDC into its growing suite of applications, such as the popular decentralized exchange Sushiswap.

Samy Karim, Director of Sei Foundation, stated, "As the cryptocurrency market matures, stablecoins are becoming increasingly important for the industry's overall growth." This move represents the latest development in Sei and Circle's expansion efforts, as well as Circle's initiative to support its token on a new blockchain.

Wyatt Lonergan, Head of Circle Ventures, commented, "We look forward to working closely with the Sei team to provide USDC integration for developers and users to facilitate fast and efficient transactions online."