Stablecoin Issuer Circle Files for IPO
Circle Internet Group, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, has submitted a filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to go public on the New York Stock Exchange.
According to its April 1 Form S-1 registration statement, the company intends to list its Class A common stock under the ticker symbol “CRCL.”
The filing does not specify how many shares will be offered or the expected IPO price.
The document revealed that Circle generated $1.67 billion in revenue in 2024, marking a 16% increase from the previous year.
However, its net income dropped 41.8% year-over-year to $155.6 million, compared to a net loss of $761.7 million in 2022.
In 2024, Circle paid nearly $908 million to Coinbase, its primary distribution partner, for facilitating the circulation of USDC on its platform.
This figure suggests Coinbase earns more from USDC than Circle itself, according to Agora CEO Nick van Eck.
VanEck’s head of digital asset research, Matthew Sigel, explained that the rising costs contribute to the discrepancy between Circle’s revenue growth and its declining EBITDA and net income in 2024.
The filing also indicated that more than 99% of Circle’s revenue last year was generated from its stablecoin reserves, with a portion coming from yield-bearing U.S. Treasury bills.
Circle reported holdings of $6.2 million in Bitcoin, $5.6 million in Sui, and over $3.3 million in Ethereum, along with additional holdings in Sei, Aptos, and Optimism.
The company had previously tried to go public through a SPAC merger in 2021, a plan it dropped in December 2022.
Another attempt was made in January 2024 via a confidential SEC filing.
On March 25, Circle became the first stablecoin issuer to gain regulatory approval in Japan, launching USDC on the SBI VC Trade exchange the following day.
USDC is currently the second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization at $60.1 billion, behind USDT, which holds $143.9 billion, according to CoinGecko.
Other crypto firms, such as Kraken and BitGo, are also reportedly preparing for public listings in the near future.
Sources:
https://cointelegraph.com/news/circle-files-initial-public-offering
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1876042/000119312525070481/d737521ds1.htm
https://x.com/Nick_van_Eck/status/1907181670504993026