Circle Has Explored Potential $5B Sale to Coinbase or Ripple Instead of IPO: Report

Stablecoin issuer Circle, which filed for an initial public offering (IPO) last month, has explored the alternative of a sale to crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) or payments company Ripple, according to a Monday report by Fortune.

The New York-based issuer of USDC, the second-largest stablecoin, took part in informal talks over a potential sale from which it was seeking at least $5 billion, Fortune reported, citing people who asked not to be identified.

This figure would be line with the company’s valuation by investment banks JPMorgan and Citi, which Circle had hired to help with the IPO.

Coinbase holds a minority share in Circle, and the two companies share revenue from USDC’s reserve interest income. Ripple recently debuted its own stablecoin, RLUSD. An offer by Ripple to buy Circle was rejected, Bloomberg reported last month.

Circle said in an emailed statement that it “is not for sale,” and remains committed to going public, Fortune said. The company aborted a previous attempt at going public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger in 2021.