Circle files for IPO on the NYSE after denying it ever planned sale to Coinbase or Ripple

Circle has filed to go public on the New York Stock Exchange, shortly after rejecting the flood of rumors that it had been in quiet talks to sell itself to Coinbase or Ripple.

The company made its intentions clear on Tuesday, May 27, once again stating that it is not for sale and is heading to Wall Street instead.

The filing shows that Circle Internet Financial is aiming for a valuation as high as $6.71 billion on a fully diluted basis. The company wants to raise serious capital—up to $624 million—through the IPO by offering 24 million shares, with a price range between $24 and $26 each.

Out of those, Circle itself is putting up 9.6 million, and the remaining 14.4 million shares are coming from early investors, including Accel and General Catalyst, who’ve decided it’s time to cash in.

Cathie Wood’s ARK commits to Circle, Ripple rumors dismissed

One of the biggest buyers circling this IPO is Cathie Wood. Her firm, ARK Investment Management, has said it plans to buy as much as $150 million worth of shares when the listing hits. That’s a chunk of confidence from a well-known name in the crypto-investing world, and it helps put Circle’s filing into sharper focus.

Founded in 2013, Circle is best known for operating USDC, a dollar-pegged stablecoin with a market cap above $60 billion, based on tracking data from CoinGecko. Stablecoins are crypto tokens tied to fiat currencies to prevent the price swings seen with coins like Bitcoin or Ethereum. 

USDC is pegged to the US dollar and has become one of the most widely used stablecoins for payments, lending, and trading across exchanges and DeFi platforms.

Circle’s IPO will be led by J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs, with 15 total banks lined up to underwrite the deal. Once approved, the stock will trade under the symbol CRCL on the NYSE. 

This is part of a broader trend encouraged by President Donald Trump’s current administration, which has pushed for a more “rational” approach to crypto rules in the US, making it easier for blockchain-native firms to go public.

But this isn’t Circle’s first attempt to enter the public market. In 2022, it tried to merge with a $9 billion SPAC backed by Bob Diamond, but that deal fell apart before it could close. That failed plan doesn’t seem to be holding Circle back now.