Report: Stablecoin Issuer Circle Could Launch IPO by June

Circle Internet Financial will reportedly file its prospectus for an initial public offering (IPO) in late April and could launch its IPO by June.

The company, which is the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, has hired investment banks to underwrite its potential IPO, though the timing of an IPO has not been decided, CoinDesk reported Tuesday (April 1), citing a paywalled article by Fortune.

Circle aims for a valuation between $4 billion and $5 billion, according to the report.

Circle did not immediately reply to PYMNTS’ request for comment.

The company announced in January 2024 that it was relaunching its plans to go public after delaying a planned IPO in December 2022.

Circle said in a January 2024 press release that it confidentially filed paperwork for an IPO with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The company said that the number of shares to be offered and their price range had yet to be determined, and that the IPO was expected to happen once the SEC conducted a review, “subject to market conditions.”

The company said in July 2021 that it would go public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) combination with Concord Acquisition Corp.

Circle delayed that plan to go public in December 2022, saying that it and Concord Acquisition Corp. mutually agreed to end their proposed business combination because the SEC had not declared the S-4 registration statement for the business combination effective.

“We are disappointed the proposed transaction timed out, however, becoming a public company remains part of Circle’s core strategy to enhance trust and transparency, which has never been more important,” Circle Co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire said at the time in a press release.

An S-4 registration statement is a document that companies file to get the SEC’s approval for new shares.

“We never expected the SEC registration process to be quick and easy,” Circle said in January 2023. “We’re a novel company in a novel industry.”

Circle said Thursday (March 27) that it is teaming up with Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the operator of The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), to explore the use of Circle’s USDC stablecoin to develop new products and solutions for ICE’s customers.