Ripple Makes $5B Power Play to Swallow Circle—Because Crypto Consolidation Wasn’t Opaque Enough

In a move that redefines ’strategic ambiguity,’ Ripple reportedly put $5 billion on the table to acquire stablecoin giant Circle. Because nothing says ’decentralized future’ like two blockchain titans merging under regulatory scrutiny.

The deal—if it happens—would fuse XRP’s liquidity machine with USDC’s compliance-heavy empire. Traders are already speculating whether this creates a crypto Voltron or just a bigger target for the SEC.

Bonus jab: At least this acquisition would be settled in actual USD, not just promises and whitepaper tokens.

Ripple faces fintech competition 

Ripple came up with the offer just as Circle was expanding its options for fast on-chain payments. Ripple’s main bid to mass adoption is its fintech activity, offering cheap world-spanning payment networks. 

Circle is also aiming to expand its stablecoin services, moving into payments in addition to using USDC in trading pairs. Circle became a potential competitor of Ripple, after announcing its Circle Payments Network (CPN), a mass adoption payment layer for the Internet. 

With CPN, we are building a network platform that offers economics and aligned incentives for the entire ecosystem. Big tent mentality here at Circle. Let’s build the internet financial system together. https://t.co/82mtLfjjFt

— Jeremy Allaire – jda.eth / jdallaire.sol (@jerallaire) April 30, 2025

Circle also expands the influence of its stablecoins, growing the supply of USDC with new mints on Solana and Base. Previously, the stablecoin issuer has stated it aims to turn CPN into a direct rival or even a ‘killer’ of Ripple’s payment system.

Circle has issued over $60B in USDC stablecoins, becoming more influential on both centralized exchanges and Solana DEX. USDC retains 90.7K daily active addresses, with daily trading volumes of $9.6B.

Ripple expands through acquisitions

Ripple has been on an acquisition spree in 2025, after ending its long-running lawsuit against the US SEC. 

In early January, Ripple finalized the acquisition of small companies valued at $250M. Ripple has looked into tokenization tools, custodial and trading services. 

In April, Ripple also acquired prime broker Hidden Road for $1.25B, aiming to expand its influence among professional and institutional traders. 

The acquisition offer arrives at a time when fintech apps aim to integrate stablecoins as a faster settlement layer. VISA announced a partnership with Bridge, part of the Stripe fintech group, to issue new stablecoin payment gateways. Stripe itself is building a new stablecoin product, moving from a fintech app to a crypto payment gateway. 

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