Circle Guns for Wall Street: Stablecoin Titan Files IPO at $6.7B Valuation

Move over, meme stocks—crypto’s quiet giant is making its play for the big leagues. Circle, the powerhouse behind USDC, just dropped its S-1 with ambitions to join the Nasdaq at a $6.7 billion valuation.

Why this matters: This isn’t just another crypto company cashing out. Circle’s move could force traditional finance to finally take stablecoins seriously—or expose them as the regulatory tightrope walk they’ve always been.

The fine print: That $6.7B figure? A bold ask in a market where ’stablecoin’ and ’volatility’ still share headlines. But with USDC processing over $197B in transactions last quarter alone, Circle’s betting institutions will overlook crypto’s wild rep for cold, hard utility.

Bottom line: Whether this IPO soars or crashes, one thing’s certain—Wall Street’s about to get a crash course in blockchain economics. Just don’t expect them to read the whitepaper.

Circle Internet Group, a global financial technology company and a leader in the stablecoin market, has officially filed a registration statement on FORM S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a proposed initial public offering (IPO) of its Class A common stock.

While the exact number of shares to be offered and the final price range are yet to be determined, Reuters has reported that Circle is targeting a valuation of up to $6.71 billion on a fully diluted basis. The offering is expected to include the sale of approximately 9.6 million new shares by Circle, alongside an additional 14.4 million shares from existing shareholders. If priced at the higher end of the reported range of $24 to $26 per share, the IPO could raise as much as $624 million.

J.P. Morgan is acting as the lead left active bookrunner for the proposed offering, with Citigroup serving as the lead right active bookrunner. Barclays, Deutsche Bank Securities, and SG Americas Securities, LLC are also participating as bookrunners, alongside co-managers BNY Capital Markets, Canaccord Genuity, Needham & Company, Oppenheimer & Co, and Santander, Circle said.

Founded in 2013, Circle’s decision to go public comes as the stablecoin market continues to expand, with its USDC stablecoin being a prominent player, with over $61 billion issued.

However, the firm has also faced challenges, including a temporary de-pegging of USDC during the Silicon Valley Bank crisis in 2023, and lags market leader Tether, whose USDT stablecoin has a $153 billion market cap, by a significant margin. Circle also relies heavily on Coinbase for USDC’s reach, paying Coinbase 54% of its total revenue for distribution, Shane Molidor, founder of Forgd and former CEO of AscendEx, told CCN. “Circle is a low-margin, distribution-dependent business with limited pricing power and uncertain growth,” Molidor said, raising questions about the firms valuation.