Circle Eyes $5B Exit—Ripple and Coinbase Emerge as Potential Buyers Despite IPO Ambitions
USDC issuer Circle flirts with a blockbuster sale—just as markets whisper ’desperation play’ about crypto’s latest M&A rumors.
Who’s buying? Ripple (sitting on a warchest of XRP reserves) or Coinbase (desperate to own more of its golden goose’s supply chain) could write the check.
IPO plans? Still technically on the table—but since when do crypto firms follow through on their roadmaps?
Stablecoin giant Circle is reportedly mulling a possible sale at a valuation of at least $5 billion. The alleged discussions involving America’s leading crypto exchange, Coinbase, and blockchain payments firm Ripple are taking place while Circle plans an initial public offering (IPO).
Circle Seeking A Sale Price Of At Least $5 Billion
Circle, the issuer of the USDC dollar-pegged stablecoin, took part in informal takeover talks from which it was seeking at least $5 billion from potential buyers, according to a Monday report from Fortune, citing four banking and private equity sources familiar with the matter.
As reported by ZyCrypto last month, Ripple had offered to acquire Circle for up to $5 billion, but the offer was rejected as too low. At the time, sources claimed that Ripple remained interested in Circle, but hadn’t decided on whether to make another offer.
Ripple’s proposed deal likely included a huge portion of the payment in the XRP cryptocurrency. While nominally valued at market rates, XRP-based payments may be significantly discounted by a potential seller like Circle, which is seeking a public listing.
USDC is currently the second-largest stablecoin by market cap at $60.6 billion, trailing only Tether’s USDT at $151.6 billion. Since launching last December, Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin market cap has climbed to over $312 million, according to data from CoinGecko.
Will Coinbase Outbid Ripple?
Meanwhile, if Coinbase were to buy Circle, it WOULD pay using cash and stock.
Even if Ripple were to match the requested price, Circle might still sell to Coinbase, given their long-lasting partnership since the launch of the CENTRE Consortium in 2018, which initially managed USDC. Circle also has an agreement with Coinbase to list USDC on its trading platform, and the two companies share revenue from the stablecoin’s reserve interest income.
“If Coinbase wanted to buy them, Circle would sell in a heartbeat,” one of the sources reportedly told Fortune.
Coinbase, which also recently agreed to purchase options trading platform Deribit for a staggering $2.9 billion, recently became the first crypto firm to join the S&P 500 index.
Circle is among an increasing number of crypto-related companies that have signaled interest in going public in the near future since President Donald TRUMP took office in January.
Earlier in April, the company submitted a FORM S-1 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). However, the company later weighed delaying its IPO due to macroeconomic uncertainty ignited by President Trump’s sweeping trade tariffs, according to The Wall Street Journal.
