Circle Partners with JPMorgan and Citigroup for IPO
Stablecoin issuer Circle is advancing its long-term plan for a public stock listing. According to a report by Fortune, Circle is collaborating with investment banks JPMorgan and Citigroup to conduct its long-awaited initial public offering (IPO), which is expected to publicly submit listing materials in late April.
Circle Aims to Submit Listing Materials in April
Insiders indicate that Circle’s goal is to publicly submit the offering documents in late April. When a company submits these files, its stock typically begins trading about four weeks later, although some companies may wait several months or more.
This marks Circle’s second attempt to go public. In Q4 2021, Circle sought to list its stock through a merger with special purpose acquisition company Concord Acquisition Corp, but ultimately announced its termination at the end of 2022. Subsequently, the company faced a downturn in the cryptocurrency market and the Silicon Valley Bank crisis, leading to a significant drop in the market cap of USDC from a peak of $56 billion to as low as $24 billion.
In January 2024, Circle secretly submitted a traditional IPO application to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. However, the public filing will provide investors with deeper insights into Circle’s financial condition and mark the final step toward its public stock listing. Chain News previously analyzed Circle’s business model based on data submitted in 2022, when Circle still had numerous external investments and extremely high personnel and administrative costs, resulting in a net loss.
Is Stablecoin a Good Business? Insights from Circle’s Financial Reports
The market cap of stablecoins is continuously growing; will Circle’s IPO proceed smoothly?
Circle’s issuance will be the largest crypto IPO since Coinbase went public in 2021. JPMorgan and Citigroup were also part of the financial advisory team for Coinbase’s listing at that time.
The market cap of stablecoins is soaring. The leading stablecoin Tether’s USDT market cap has reached $144 billion, while Circle has recently made strides in compliance, with USDC’s market cap climbing to $60 billion, finally recovering from the low point during the Silicon Valley Bank run and reaching a historical high. Additionally, one of Circle’s significant revenue sources, U.S. Treasury yields, is currently near a high of 4.3%, which helps boost Circle’s reported financial revenue figures.
So far this year, 73 companies have gone public on U.S. exchanges, a 70% increase compared to 2024. According to Dealogic data, the total value of these transactions is $11.8 billion, marking a 39% increase compared to the same period in 2024. Several well-known companies, including eToro, Stubhub, and Klarna, have also applied for listings.
The probability of Circle going public by the end of 2025 has reached 85% on Polymarket.
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