Jeremy Allaire

Jeremy D. Allaire is an American entrepreneur and technologist who is best known as the founder and CEO of Circle, a digital currency company. Allaire was born on May 13, 1971, and graduated from Macalester College in 1993 with a degree in political science and philosophy. He became interested in the Internet during his college years, and in 1995, he co-founded Allaire Corporation with his brother J.J. Allaire and a group of college friends. The company aimed to provide easy-to-use web development tools and invented ColdFusion, a rapid web application development platform. 

The company grew rapidly, and in 1999, it had a successful IPO before being acquired by Macromedia in 2001. After leaving Macromedia, Allaire founded Brightcove, an online video platform, and later founded Circle, an Internet-based consumer finance company that aims to bring the power and benefits of digital money to mainstream consumers. Throughout his career, Allaire has been a pioneer in open distributed computing based on lightweight HTTP-based distributed objects and has contributed to the development of the Web Distributed Data Exchange (WDDX), an open-source format for using HTTP for simple remote procedure calls.

Jeremy D. Allaire is an American technologist and entrepreneur who is best known as the CEO and founder of the digital currency company Circle and the chairman of the board of Brightcove. He was born on May 13, 1971, and grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Allaire was educated in the Montessori tradition, which instilled in him a belief in self-direction, independent thought, peer collaboration, and responsibility. He graduated from Macalester College in 1993 with a degree in political science and philosophy, with a concentration in economics.

While at Macalester, Allaire became obsessed with the internet and how it could transform systems of communication and media, as well as its impact on fundamental human rights such as free speech. He was an early follower of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and later recruited EFF founder Mitch Kapor to the board of directors of Allaire Corporation.

In 1992, Allaire authored a policy proposal for the creation of a National Information Network, proposing methods to commercialize access to IP services. The paper was submitted to the Senate Subcommittee on Science and Technology, then chaired by Al Gore.

After college, Allaire founded Global Internet Horizons, an internet-consulting firm aimed at helping media publishers and marketers understand and build a presence on the nascent World Wide Web. In 1995, he co-founded the Allaire Corporation with his brother JJ Allaire and a group of close college friends. The company aimed to provide easy-to-use web development tools and invented ColdFusion, a rapid web application development platform designed to easily connect simple HTML pages to a database using its associated scripting language, ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML).

Allaire Corporation grew rapidly, from just over $1 million in revenue in 1996 to $120 million in revenue in 2000, growing to over 700 employees with offices in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. In addition to ColdFusion, Allaire launched HomeSite, which became the world's most popular Windows HTML editor, and JRun, one of the first and most widely adopted Java app servers.

Allaire also helped to pioneer foundational ideas in open distributed computing based on lightweight HTTP-based distributed objects. In particular, the company developed the Web Distributed Data Exchange (WDDX) in 1998, an open source format for using HTTP for simple remote procedure calls, a precursor to the adoption of REST and JSON for web software APIs.

Allaire Corporation had its IPO in January 1999 and was acquired by Macromedia in March 2001. After the acquisition, Allaire served as CTO of Macromedia and helped develop the Macromedia MX platform, a suite of software tools and servers aimed at enabling rich applications delivered using Flash Player.

In February 2003, Allaire left Macromedia to join venture capital firm General Catalyst as a technologist and executive-in-residence. In 2004, he founded Brightcove, an online video platform used by many media and marketing organizations worldwide. After a successful IPO in early 2012, Allaire stepped down as CEO in 2013 and now serves as chairman of the board.

In October 2013, Allaire announced the launch of Circle, an internet-based consumer finance company that aims to bring the power and benefits of digital money, such as Bitcoin, to mainstream consumers. Circle is focused on building a new kind of consumer finance company using open internet protocols, including blockchain, to enable greater value transfer and create more economic opportunity globally.

Throughout his career, Allaire has been a thought leader in the areas of digital currency, open distributed computing, and internet entrepreneurship. He is a frequent speaker at conferences and events around the world and has written extensively on these topics.

Jeremy D. Allaire has been a vocal advocate for the potential of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies to transform the global economy. He sees blockchain as a new form of digital infrastructure that has the potential to fundamentally change the way we organize and manage our societies, economies, and institutions.

In particular, he believes that blockchain can enable a new generation of decentralized applications and services that can operate in a more open, transparent, and secure way than traditional centralized systems. This could lead to new forms of economic organization and collaboration, as well as greater financial inclusion and empowerment for individuals and communities around the world.

Allaire also envisions a future where digital currencies, such as Bitcoin and stablecoins, become a mainstream form of payment and store of value, alongside traditional fiat currencies. He sees this as a key step towards creating a more fair and inclusive financial system, where people can transact with each other without the need for intermediaries or gatekeepers.