The issuer of the stablecoin USDC, Circle, was valued at as much as $9 billion when it first attempted to go public through a SPAC deal in 2022, which ultimately failed.
Circle’s stock is currently trading around a $5 billion valuation ahead of its planned listing. The company, which reached a $9 billion valuation in 2022, attempted to go public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) called Concord Acquisition Corp. This deal was terminated in December 2022 after the SEC didn’t grant approval in time and following the collapse of FTX.
According to three sources with knowledge of the matter, Circle Internet Financial’s privately held stock is trading in the secondary market at a price implying a $5 billion to $5.25 billion valuation ahead of its planned initial public offering (IPO). The issuer of USDC, the second-largest stablecoin by market cap, allows some trading of its shares in the secondary market on a case-by-case basis and only in specific situations.
The sellers are reportedly early-stage investors seeking liquidity or Circle employees monetizing stock options before the IPO. The company is not allowing trades below a $5 billion valuation.
Circle did not respond to requests for comment before publication. The Coinbase-backed firm’s valuation reached about $9 billion in 2022 when it tried to go public through the SPAC deal with Concord Acquisition Corp. The mutual termination of the proposed combination was announced in December 2022 after the SEC didn’t grant approval in time, and following the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX a month earlier and the ensuing crypto winter.
One source stated that investors need not worry about the difference between the 2022 valuation and the figure implied by secondary-market trades. The secondary market is currently depressed, with many investors needing to raise cash, leading to sales at any price.
In a January report titled “State of the USDC Economy,” Circle said the number of USDC wallets with at least $10 had jumped 59% in the previous year to about 2.7 million, with the number of transactions in 2023 reaching 595 million through the end of November.
Circle filed to sell shares to the public for the first time in January of this year, submitting a confidential draft S-1 document with the SEC. The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the planned offering had not been determined, and the exact timing of the planned IPO is also unknown. Bloomberg reported in May that Circle intends to make the U.S. its new legal home ahead of the planned IPO, filing paperwork to move from its current domicile in Ireland.
