Circle Ditches M&A Rumors, Guns for NYSE IPO in Defiant Power Play

Wall Street’s about to get a crypto cowboy. Circle—the stablecoin giant behind USDC—just filed for a public listing on the NYSE, torching speculation about a cozy acquisition by Coinbase or Ripple.

The move screams independence—or desperation, depending on which hedge fund manager you ask. Either way, it’s a middle finger to the ’crypto can’t go mainstream’ crowd.

Funny how a company built on pegged tokens refuses to peg itself to bigger players. IPO underwriters are already sharpening their pencils—and their fee structures.

Cathie Wood’s ARK commits to Circle, Ripple rumors dismissed

One of the biggest buyers circling this IPO is Cathie Wood. Her firm, ARK Investment Management, has said it plans to buy as much as $150 million worth of shares when the listing hits. That’s a chunk of confidence from a well-known name in the crypto-investing world, and it helps put Circle’s filing into sharper focus.

Founded in 2013, Circle is best known for operating USDC, a dollar-pegged stablecoin with a market cap above $60 billion, based on tracking data from CoinGecko. Stablecoins are crypto tokens tied to fiat currencies to prevent the price swings seen with coins like Bitcoin or Ethereum. 

USDC is pegged to the US dollar and has become one of the most widely used stablecoins for payments, lending, and trading across exchanges and DeFi platforms.

Circle’s IPO will be led by J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs, with 15 total banks lined up to underwrite the deal. Once approved, the stock will trade under the symbol CRCL on the NYSE. 

This is part of a broader trend encouraged by President Donald Trump’s current administration, which has pushed for a more “rational” approach to crypto rules in the US, making it easier for blockchain-native firms to go public.

But this isn’t Circle’s first attempt to enter the public market. In 2022, it tried to merge with a $9 billion SPAC backed by Bob Diamond, but that deal fell apart before it could close. That failed plan doesn’t seem to be holding Circle back now.

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