- Circle, shareholders seek as much as $624 million
- Cathie Wood's ARK set to buy up to $150 million of shares in IPO
- Stablecoin giant had tried going public through SPAC deal previously
May 27 (Reuters) - Circle Internet said on Tuesday it was targeting a valuation of up to $6.71 billion on a fully diluted basis in its U.S. initial public offering, as the stablecoin giant looks to tap into growing optimism around cryptocurrency.
New York-based Circle and some existing investors are looking to raise up to $624 million by offering 24 million shares priced between $24 and $26 apiece.
U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has embraced cryptocurrencies and pledged a more "rational" approach to digital asset regulations, encouraging companies from the industry to go public.
"The outlook for crypto IPOs is better than at any point in the past 3 years or so," said Matt Kennedy, senior strategist at Renaissance Capital, a provider of IPO-focused research and ETFs.
Progress in trade talks between the U.S. and its top trading partners has also injected life into the IPO market, prompting companies to go ahead with their stock market launches as tariff-driven turbulence has eased.
Circle is offering 9.6 million shares in the offering, while selling shareholders, including venture capital firms Accel and General Catalyst, are parting ways with 14.4 million shares.
Cathie Wood's ARK Investment Management has indicated its intention to buy up to $150 million shares of Circle in the IPO.
The company's flotation would be one of the biggest crypto listings since Coinbase Global's, stock market debut in 2021. Mike Novogratz's crypto firm Galaxy Digital also debuted on the Nasdaq earlier this month.
Circle had attempted to go public through a $9 billion blank-check deal with Bob Diamond-backed SPAC, but the deal fell apart in late 2022.
"Circle now returning to the public markets indicates regained confidence — but at a 25% lower valuation, which reflects more realistic market conditions and less frothy expectations," said US Tiger Securities analyst Bo Pei.
STABLECOIN FOCUS
Founded in 2013, Circle is the issuer of USDC, which has a market capitalization of over $60 billion and is the second-biggest stablecoin after Tether, according to crypto market tracker CoinGecko.
Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies that are usually pegged to a fiat currency such as the U.S. dollar. Besides USDC, Circle also issues the euro-denominated stablecoin EURC.
Circle's IPO comes as the stablecoin bill advances through the U.S. Senate, which could further accelerate the adoption of the digital tokens.
J.P. Morgan estimates the market size for stablecoins could grow to $500 billion to $750 billion over the coming years.
Circle will list on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "CRCL". J.P. Morgan, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs are the lead underwriters.
Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil and Pritam Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli
Source: Reuters