Circle Internet Financial, the creator of the second-largest stablecoin, USD Coin (USDC), has discreetly submitted documents with federal regulators for an initial public offering (IPO).
Following the historic approvals from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday, allowing Bitcoin spot ETF products to trade on national securities exchanges, Circle announced on Thursday that it plans to proceed with an IPO, pending SEC review and market conditions.
As of now, there are limited publicly traded cryptocurrency companies, particularly those specializing in stablecoins that have yet to go public. Stablecoins are digital tokens pegged to an asset with a relatively steady value, such as the U.S. dollar. USDC, Circle's USD-pegged stablecoin, holds a market capitalization of $25 billion, ranking second after Tether's USDT with a market capitalization of $94 billion.
Coinbase, a publicly traded and audited cryptocurrency exchange, safeguards USDC's cash and inventory reserves, and it also holds an equity stake in Circle. Notably, Coinbase (COIN) shares have witnessed a 9.61% increase over the past month.
Originally, Circle had planned to go public through a $9 billion SPAC deal, but this arrangement was terminated in December 2022. Despite this setback, CEO Jeremy Allaire expressed the company's ongoing intention to go public. In July 2023, Circle announced layoffs and the discontinuation of investments in non-core business areas, aligning with a broader trend among cryptocurrency firms adjusting to the challenges posed by the bear market starting in 2022.
Bitcoin's recent price, at $47,600 during writing, has brought it back to levels seen nearly two years ago. Simultaneously, 11 U.S. Bitcoin spot ETFs commenced trading on Thursday, led by major asset managers like BlackRock, Fidelity, and Franklin Templeton. However, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler clarified that the ETF approvals do not indicate a willingness to approve listing standards for crypto-asset securities.
It's worth noting that the SEC has previously indicated, through legal actions against Binance, that it considers stablecoins to be securities. Last June, Paxos issued the BUSD stablecoin as a security.
