Stablecoin Issuer Circle to Go Public in $4.5 Billion SPAC Deal

Brandon Kochkodin, Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) --

Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, is set to go public in a merger with special purpose acquisition company Concord Acquisition Corp.

The deal values Circle at $4.5 billion and comes just weeks after the firm raised a $440 million funding round from investors including Fidelity, Marshall Wace and Willett Advisors, the investment arm for the personal and philanthropic assets of Michael Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP.

USDC is currently the eighth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, according to Coinmarketcap.com. Among stablecoins, its $26 billion of market value trails only Tether’s $62 billion.

Concord Chairman Bob Diamond called Circle “the true pioneer of trusted digital currencies, an increasingly critical part of the global financial system,” in a statement announcing the deal.

“Through this strategic transaction and ultimate public debut, we are taking an even bigger step forward, with the capital and relationships needed to build a global-scale internet financial services company that can help businesses everywhere to connect into a more open, inclusive and effective global economic system,” Circle Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Allaire said in a the statement.

Read more: Stablecoin Firm Circle to Go Public With SPAC: M&A Snapshot