Stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Financial has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in the U.S., according to a company press release.
Circle didn’t disclose in the release how many shares it plans to sell under the offering or a price range for those shares. IPO applications are typically updated at a later date to provide those details. The company would go public after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission completes a review.
Circle issues the USDC, which is the second-largest stablecoin behind Tether and is pegged one-to-one with the U.S. Dollar. The stablecoin is backed by reserves of cash and equivalents, including U.S. Treasury bonds. USDC has a current market cap of $25.2 billion, according to CoinMarketCap data.
Circle previously attempted to go public through a merger with a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) named Concord Acquisition Corp in a deal that valued the crypto firm at $9 billion. The deal was abandoned in December 2022, however, as Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said, the company was unable to complete the SEC’s qualification “in time.”
Some of Circle’s most prominent backers include BlackRock and Fidelity, who participated in a $400 million funding round in April 2022.
Crypto exchange Coinbase also took an equity stake in the firm last year, as part of an expanded partnership in which the two companies share revenue generated from USDC reserves’ interest income.
Circle did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment.
UPDATE (Jan. 11 12:15 p.m. ET): Updated with additional context.