Circle Has Explored Potential $5B Sale to Coinbase or Ripple Instead of IPO: Report

Stablecoin issuer Circle, which filed for an initial public offering (IPO) last month, has explored the alternative of a sale to crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) or payments company Ripple, according to a Monday report by Fortune . The New York-based issuer of USDC, the second-largest stablecoin, took part in informal talks over a potential sale from which it was seeking at least $5 billion, Fortune reported, citing people who asked not to be identified. This figure would be line with the company’s valuation by investment banks JPMorgan and Citi , which Circle had hired to help with the IPO. Coinbase holds a minority share in Circle, and the two companies share revenue from USDC’s reserve interest income. Ripple recently debuted its own stablecoin , RLUSD. An offer by Ripple to buy Circle was rejected , Bloomberg reported last month. Circle said in an emailed statement that it “is not for sale,” and remains committed to going public, Fortune said. The company aborted a previous attempt at going public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger in 2021. Read More: Coinbase Shares Could See $16B of Buying Pressure From S&P 500 Index Inclusion: Bernstein

Source: CoinDesk