The parent company and issuer of Circle stable coin USDC are preparing for an initial public offering (IPO) amid the market valuation of the company falling to $5 billion.
The stablecoin company which issues USDC, the second largest stablecoin by market share were previously valued at $9 billion at a failed SPAC deal in 2022.
The stablecoin company has filed for an S-1 form with the United States SEC for a proposed IPO.
Circles privately held stocks are currently trading at a valuation range of $5 billion to $5.25 billion according to a CoinDesk report citing people familiar with the matter. The new figures spell a significant drop from the $9 billion the company was valued at in 2022 during the failed SPAC deal.
The CoinDesk report further stated that Circle’s early-stage investors and employees are liquidating their stakes in the company at a secondary market.
Circle in response to this is not allowing its stock trade at the secondary market below a $5 billion valuation.
Circle preparing for an IPO
Circle the parent company of the stablecoin USDC is preparing to go public in the United States market. The company has confirmed that it submitted confidentially a draft registration statement on form S1 with the SEC for a prospective IPO.
This isn’t the first attempt by Circle to go public. According to Financial magnates Circle earlier attempted to go public in partnership with Concord Acquisition Corp., a blank-check firm led by Bob Diamond, the former CEO of Barclays.
The deal fell through after it failed to get the nod from the US SEC following the collapse of FTX founded by convicted Sam Bankman Fried.
Crunchbase data reveals that Circle has raised over $1.1 billion in funding since its inception. Reports also state that the company received additional funding at a valuation of $7.7 billion from big industry players like Goldman Sachs, General Catalyst, BlackRock, Fidelity, and Marshall Wace.
What to Know
- Circle was founded in 2013 by Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville and has grown to become the second largest stablecoin issuer in the crypto industry by Market share. The first position goes to Tether USDT which dominates the market share by a significant mile.
- Circle USDC is a stablecoin pegged at ratio 1:1 to the US dollar. The stable coin has a market capitalization of over $33.5 billion. Circle is joint managed by Circle and Crypto exchange Coinbase which owns an unknown equity in the company.