BlackRock Aims to Scoop Up 10% of Circle’s IPO—Wall Street’s Latest Crypto Bet

Wall Street’s quiet crypto invasion just got louder. BlackRock—the $10 trillion asset manager that once scoffed at ’speculative’ digital assets—now wants a 10% slice of Circle’s public debut. Guess even institutional dinosaurs learn new tricks when there’s profit to be had.

The move signals a seismic shift: TradFi’s biggest players aren’t just dipping toes in crypto waters anymore—they’re diving in headfirst. Circle’s IPO could become the litmus test for how deep the institutional embrace really goes.

One cynical take? This reeks of the same herd mentality that brought us mortgage-backed securities. But hey—at least blockchain’s transparent enough to see the crash coming this time.

 The demand for the IPO is higher than the number of available shares 

Circle, the company that controls the USDC stablecoin, has chosen to use the IPO to sell 24 million shares of its Class A common stock. 9.6 million new shares will be issued by the company, and 14.4 million shares will be sold by people who already own shares.

Within 30 days, underwriters can buy an additional 3.6 million shares. This WOULD bring the total number of shares on offer to 27.6 million.

The price of Circle IPO shares is expected to stay between $24 and $26. Circle could make as much as $624 million if all the investors invested the full amount. Circle will get all of the money made from the sale of the 9.6 million shares. 

Other than BlackRock, the SEC report also showed that Cathie Wood’s  Ark Investment Management could also put up to $150 million into this stock offering.  The company plans to set the price of the bond on June 4.

According to reports, the demand for the IPO is higher than the number of shares that are available. 

More realistic market conditions and less frothy expectations for IPOs 

The Circle’s USD Coin is a stablecoin backed by US dollars or assets that are worth dollars, like US Treasury stocks.

The company has had an upward pattern for the most part. After saying it would go public through a SPAC merger in 2021, Circle said its net income for the year was $155.7 million, down from $267.5 million the year before. In 2024, it made $1.68 billion in sales and capital income, up from $1.45 billion the previous year.

J.P. Morgan thinks that the market for stablecoins in the next few years could reach $500 billion to $750 billion. The sign for Circle on the New York Stock Exchange will be “CRCL”. The three main underwriters are J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs.

The stablecoin operator is jumping into the IPO market, which can be very unstable. “Circle now returning to the public markets indicates regained confidence — but at a 25% lower valuation, which reflects more realistic market conditions and less frothy expectations,” said US Tiger Securities analyst Bo Pei.

However, IPOs are doing pretty well lately. For instance, the price that eToro (ETOR) set for its IPO last month was higher than what was expected, and the stock price went through the roof on the first day. 

CoreWeave (CRWV), a cloud computing company backed by Nvidia (NVDA), ended up with a price below its range expectations in March. However, the stock has gone through the roof in the months since then and is on track to set a new record high on Tuesday.

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