Circle teases new iOS and Android apps

Even though they’re still in an invite-only beta test, bitcoin-brokerage Circle clearly has plans to break into the mainstream in the near future. CoinDesk reports today that the company gave an exclusive preview of their new iOS and Android apps at the CoinScrum meetup in London yesterday, giving several hints about Circle’s near-future plans. CEO Jeremy Allaire told the audience that the apps were still in the beta testing phase, but demonstrated the core functionality of both as well as performing a simple transaction.

“We are working hard to provide a cross-platform experience that makes it easy for consumers to access bitcoin and experience the benefits of digital currency,” Allaire told the crowd, estimated to be around 170. “We hope to add iOS and Android native apps to our product offering later this year.”

Circle has been careful to limit access to its service during the beta test phase, with many notable industry observers still lacking access to the platform. The company has claimed that this invitation strategy is aimed at bringing new users into bitcoin, although there has been significant speculation that the Circle simply wants to reduce the risk of their credit-card enabled platform being manipulated by bitcoin speculators before the system is full tested. Additional funding and bitcoin reserves will almost certainly be required by the company before a full-scale, public launch can take place.

That launch may be happening soon, however. Allaire told the CoinScrum crowd that the service will be exiting beta “very soon,” and that uses in roughly 60 countries have accessed the platform successfully.