Coinspeaker
Stablecoin Issuer Circle Considers Going for IPO in 2024
Circle, the issuer of the USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin, is reportedly in talks with its advisers over an initial public offering (IPO) for early 2024. According to Bloomberg, which cited sources with inside knowledge about Circle, the deliberations may or may not end up in a public listing.
If it does go public, however, sources did not share what valuation Circle is expected to hit. But the valuation likely remains around the $9 billion mark that Circle was valued at back in February. That is despite USDC market capitalization suffering a steep decline of about 56% from its June high of $55.9 billion to $24.6 billion.
In email comments to Bloomberg, a Circle spokesperson confirmed that a public listing is not exactly far from the firm’s aspirations. However, rumors are what they are. They are simply rumors, and so, Circle is not in the habit of responding to such unfounded claims, the spokesperson added.
Circle Keen on Going for IPO
Recall that Circle had earlier attempted a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) deal in 2022. The deal, a $4.5-billion merger with Concord Acquisition, was supposed to help it go public at the time.
However, as Coinspeaker earlier reported, the deal eventually fell through last December. At the time, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire suggested that the firm’s failure to not complete the SEC qualification on time may have contributed to the “disappointing” outcome.
Allaire also quickly noted that Circle remains committed to its plans to go public.
1/ Some big @circle news. This morning, we announced the termination of our proposed deSPAC transaction. While disappointing that we did not complete SEC qualification in time, we remain focused on building a long-term public company. https://t.co/R0XYfCFD54
— Jeremy Allaire (@jerallaire) December 5, 2022
In line with Allaire’s declaration, the company soon revised its SPAC deal by February and has since been fixated on going public.
If the reports of ongoing deliberations are anything to go by, however, then a potential IPO might just be in the works. Once it goes public, the now-privately owned Circle will begin to offer shares – publicly – for the first time.
Circle is backed by some of the biggest names in financial services. Examples include BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, Fidelity Management, Marshall Wace, General Catalyst Partners, and many others.
As Coinspeaker reported in April, BlackRock and Fidelity were among the top investors in its $400 million funding.
USDC briefly lost its peg to the United States dollar in March as a result of its exposure to Silicon Valley Bank. According to CoinGecko data, the stablecoin sank as low as $0.87 on March 11. But barely three days later, it made its way back up to $1 and has remained relatively stable since then.
