Circle, the company issuing the USDC stablecoin, has officially filed for an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange.
Confirming previous reports, stablecoin giant Circle is going public. On Tuesday, May 27, Circle announced the launch of an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange. The company will trade under the ticker symbol CRCL at an initial price of $24 to $26 per share.
In total, 24 million shares will be available, of which the company will issue 9.6 million new shares. Early investors and existing stockholders will offer 14.4 million shares for sale to the public.
Investment banks J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs will handle the IPO. At this time, Circle hopes to take advantage of the favorable regulatory environment in the United States for crypto assets. Notably, Circle is the largest U.S.-based stablecoin issuer and is starting to challenge Tether’s dominance.
Founders to retain control in Circle
Circle’s founders, Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville, will own a controlling share of Class B stock, which carries five votes per share. This means they will retain disproportionate governing influence even as more shares are issued. Still, Circle will not be considered a “controlled company” under NYSE rules. Public company governance requirements, including transparency obligations, will continue to apply.
Unlike initial coin offerings, IPOs require an arduous process of financial audits, ensuring that the company’s business is transparent. This marks Circle’s second attempt at going public, which began with an April 1 S1 form filing, giving investors full disclosure of the company’s finances.
Circle’s earlier attempt at going public in late 2022 fell through. At the time, the stablecoin issuer pursued a SPAC merger, but the Securities and Exchange Commission failed to ratify the deal before the deadline.
