Quick overview

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Circle Internet Financial plans to sell itself to the largest U.S. exchange, Coinbase Global, or the crypto payments firm Ripple. Sources who wished to remain anonymous while discussing sensitive matters stated that Circle is positioned to accept at least $5 billion.

Circle filed for its IPO last month and is still working out the terms for the IPO, as there is no set launch date for the roadshow.

Coinbase Circle partnered with Centre Consortium, which mints the USDC stablecoin, in 2018. It was reported that when those terms ended in 2023, Coinbase acquired an equity stake in Circle, and USDC governance shifted entirely to Circle. The firms have been sharing revenue from reserves’ interest on USDC, but this arrangement is beneficial for Coinbase.

Coinbase has considerable operational control over Circle under the current agreement.

This includes a clause that, in the event of insolvency, grants Coinbase partial control over Circle’s intellectual property and prohibits Circle from entering into any significant new distribution or partnership agreements with a third party for USDC revenue without Coinbase’s approval. Many people believe Coinbase is the most sensible buyer of Circle.

However, Ripple possesses a sizable war chest. The company had previously tried to purchase Circle for $4 billion to $5 billion; however, the bid was declined as too low.