USDC issuer Circle has made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “CRCL” after completing one of the year’s largest IPOs in the sector.
On June 5, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire announced the listing in a post on X, marking a major milestone for the company 12 years after its founding.
The public offering raised $1.05 billion through the sale of 34 million shares priced at $31 each, exceeding earlier estimates and pushing Circle’s fully diluted valuation to approximately $8 billion.
The offering was initially expected to raise $624 million by selling 24 million shares at a price range of $24 to $26.
Strong investor demand prompted Circle to revise its plans multiple times, eventually expanding the offering to 34 million shares at a higher price point.
Furthermore, Circle granted underwriters a 30-day option to purchase an additional 5.1 million shares.
Major financial institutions, including JP Morgan, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs, served as lead underwriters for the offering.
According to reports, BlackRock expressed interest in acquiring roughly 10% of the shares, either directly or through affiliates..
Long time coming
The IPO follows Circle’s earlier efforts to go public through a SPAC merger in 2021, which ultimately failed due to delays in regulatory approvals.
A second attempt in early 2025 was shelved amid lingering market uncertainty and shifting regulatory dynamics tied to Trump’s re-election campaign.
The tide turned in Circle’s favour with Trump’s return to office, as his administration embraced looser oversight of digital assets and signalled renewed support for the crypto sector.
Circle took its first formal step toward a public listing on May 27, unveiling plans to offer 24 million shares priced between $24 and $26 each.
The filing confirmed that co-founders Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville would retain governance control through Class B shares, which carry five votes each.
Even with co-founders retaining enhanced voting rights, Circle doesn’t fall under NYSE’s definition of a controlled company and must comply with standard governance rules.
Circle’s public debut marks the biggest crypto-related listing on Wall Street since Coinbase’s 2021 entry into the market.
Analysts say the move signals a shift in investor focus from speculative crypto assets to stablecoins and underlying infrastructure, which are viewed as more mature and less volatile.
As Circle moves forward as a public company, it plans to reinvest the capital raised into global expansion, product development, and potential acquisitions.
The firm will not pay dividends at this stage, instead focusing on scaling its ecosystem to meet the growing demand from institutions and enterprises.
Circle extends beyond USDC
Beyond USDC, Circle has also launched a euro-backed stablecoin, EURC.
In addition to its core stablecoin business, the company recently unveiled the Circle Payments Network (CPN), a blockchain-based platform designed to modernise global payments.
The network enables real-time settlements in USDC and is currently live in Asia and Latin America through partners such as Alfred Pay, Tazapay, Conduit, and RedotPay.
The CPN is designed to support cross-border remittances, enterprise treasury functions, and payroll disbursements, with planned expansion into regions including the EU, UK, Nigeria, India, China, and the UAE.
Circle said the network would offer programmable, transparent, and always-available financial infrastructure through APIs and webhooks.
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