JPMorgan Chase and Citi Partnering With Stablecoin Issuer Circle for April IPO: Report

Stablecoin firm Circle is teaming up with top American banks as it prepares for a reported April initial public offering (IPO) launch.

According to a new Fortune report, USDC-issuer Circle is working with JPMorgan Chase and Citi Bank to publicly list the firm’s shares next month.

Citing “two sources familiar with the situation” Fortune reports that Circle is planning to file the paperwork for the IPO in late April.

Circle filed for the traditional IPO with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in January 2024. Circle has tried filing for an IPO in previous years, but the firm’s last attempt was abandoned following the FTX collapse in 2022.

According to the report, the impending IPO has the potential to be the biggest crypto IPO since Coinbase went public in 2021. Citi Bank and JPMorgan also advised Coinbase before going public.

USDC stablecoins are officially issued by Circle and are redeemable 1:1 for US dollars. USDC is the second-largest stablecoin with a market cap of more than $53 billion, second only to USDT, which has a market cap of nearly $140 billion. USDT is issued by the crypto firm Tether.

In December, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said that US dollar-pegged stablecoins could become a “mass export product” of the US.

“First and foremost, we have to focus on the strength and competitiveness of the dollar first. We have a situation in the world where while the dollar is the reserve currency, there are lots and lots of places in the world that don’t want the dollar to be that currency.

So first we need full reserve digital dollars, like stablecoins to become a mass export product of the United States and if there’s going to be a major currency of the internet, make sure it’s a digital dollar…”

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