Circle, known as the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, has publicly denied rumors regarding a potential sale of its assets to Ripple or Coinbase, emphasizing its strategic intent to focus on going public through an initial public offering (IPO).
This is reported by Business • Media
«Circle is not for sale. Our long-term goals remain unchanged,» said a company representative in a comment to PYMNTS.
Acquisition offers and company strategic focus
Initial reports about the possibility of acquiring Circle have emerged in the media over the past few months. According to sources, Ripple offered to buy the company for between $4 billion and $5 billion at the end of April 2025. However, Circle rejected this offer as not aligning with its long-term strategy and being too low. While Ripple continues to show interest, no new official offers have been made. Regarding Coinbase, discussions about a potential sale were relevant in May, but Circle emphasized that it is not negotiating a change of ownership.
In April, the company officially filed for an IPO, confirming its intentions, which had previously been postponed multiple times. As early as July 2024, Circle returned to its plan for going public, which had been delayed in December 2022.
Market activity and institutional interest
These events unfold against the backdrop of increased large transactions in the crypto industry, observed after a shift in the political climate in the U.S. towards a more favorable environment for digital assets. For instance, Ripple announced the acquisition of broker Hidden Road for $1.25 billion in April, while Coinbase acquired the crypto-derivatives exchange Deribit in Dubai for $2.9 billion a month later.
Circle has also participated in significant operations — on January 21, 2025, the company acquired Hashnote, the issuer of the USYC stablecoin, which is backed by the world’s largest tokenized money market fund, Cumberland Labs. According to CEO Jeremy Allaire, this provides a new impetus to the market and meets the growing expectations of institutional investors.
Given the active development of the market, Circle clearly articulates its position: the company is set on going public, without considering the sale of assets or a controlling stake.
It is worth noting that Circle is among the companies planning to obtain banking licenses, further underscoring its long-term strategy and ambitions in the financial technology market.