A Boston company that uses the technology behind bitcoin to facilitate mobile money transfers has become the first digital currency company to be licensed in the United Kingdom, which wants to become a hub for financial technology.

The office that regulates securities in Britain gave Circle Internet Financial an electronic money license, the company said Tuesday. The Circle app works by converting dollars and pounds into bitcoin, which are sent to recipients who can cash them out in dollars and pounds instantly, in a free process that is unseen by users.

The e-license, which is valid across the European Union, allows Circle to begin using bitcoin to facilitate money transfers between the United States and the United Kingdom. Barclays will provide the financial infrastructure Circle needs to make and receive payments in pounds.

With the Barclays partnership, Circle aims to bring their mobile payment platform to millions of customers in the United Kingdom.

In coming months, Circle will begin processing transfers in euros as well, according to Circle cofounder Jeremy Allair.

“When we founded the company a few years ago, we had the high-level vision that money should work the same way the Internet works,’’ Allair said. “It’s free to send e-mails and content, . . . but we found money didn’t really work like that.’’

Circle is one of a handful of companies doing mobile money transfers in the United States. Pay Pal’s Venmo is among the most popular. In China, where mobile payments are more common, WeChat Pay and Alipay are used.

Startups like Circle that are working in the financial technology sector are subject to heightened “financial regulation and murkiness’’ compared to other startups, according to a Forrester Research analyst Peter Wannemacher.

It took Circle, which initially only transfered bitcoin, two years to get regulatory approval to transfer dollars over the app in the United States.

Harriett Baldwin, the minister of the economic secretary to the treasury, said in a statement that the British government is taking an active role in growing their country’s financial technology industry.

“Circle’s decision to launch in the UK and the firm’s new partnership with Barclays are major milestones,’’ the statement said. “Together they prove our decision to introduce the most progressive, forward-looking regulatory regime is paying off.’’

Amanda Burke can be reached at amanda.burke@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @charlie_acb.