The creator of a widely-used stablecoin is planning on going public after seeing massive 3,400% growth in coin circulation.
Circle is a global financial technology firm that provides payments and treasury infrastructure for internet businesses. They are the principal operator of blockchain-based USD Coin (USDC), which has become the fastest-growing, regulated, fully reserved dollar digital currency in the world. Currently, USDC in circulation is greater than $25 billion and has supported over $785 billion in on-chain transactions.
The company will be going public in 2021 in a business combination with Concord Acquisition Group (NYSE: CND), a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition corporation with $276 million in trust.
Circle co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire shares Circle’s history and his enthusiasm about the new partnership.
“Circle was founded with a mission to transform the global economic system through the power of digital currencies and the open internet. We’ve made huge strides towards realizing this vision, and through this strategic transaction and ultimate public debut, we are taking an even bigger step forward, with the capital and relationships needed to build a global-scale internet financial services company that can help businesses everywhere to connect into a more open, inclusive and effective global economic system. We are thrilled to partner with Concord’s executive and investment team, drawing on their decades of operating experience growing financial services businesses around the world.”
Under the terms of the agreement, a new Irish holding company will acquire both Concord and Circle to become a publicly-traded company and trade on the NYSE under the symbol “CRCL”.
The deal places Circle’s new valuation at $4.5 billion with the transaction expected to close in Q4 of 2021. Circle shareholders will maintain approximately 86% ownership after the transaction is complete.
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