Stablecoin issuer Circle files to take company public in US

Stablecoin issuer Circle filed for an initial public offering with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday.

The firm said it “confidentially submitted a draft registration statement” with the SEC, according to a press release. Circle’s IPO is “expected to take place after the SEC completes its review process, subject to market and other conditions,” the company said.

Circle is the second largest US dollar stablecoin by market capitalisation with over $24 billion in circulation, according to DefiLlama data.

Second time’s the charm

Circle previously tried to go public in 2022, at a valuation of $9 billion. The firm aimed to go public via a so-called blank-check deal.

Blank-check deals involve a shell company — known as a special purpose acquisition company — being set up with the aim of taking another company public via an acquisition. The number of companies going public in this manner soared between 2020 and 2021.

Circle first announced plans to go public by merger with Concord Acquisition Corp, a publicly traded SPAC, in July 2021. It later amended its application in February 2022 before terminating the deal in December that year.

“While disappointing that we did not complete SEC qualification in time, we remain focused on building a long-term public company,” CEO Jeremy Allaire said in a statement at the time.

Adam Morgan McCarthy is a markets correspondent for DL News. Have a tip? Contact the author at adam@dlnews.com.