Ripple made a $5 billion acquisition offer for Circle, but it was rejected as insufficient.
Ripple wanted to strengthen its position in the stablecoin segment, where it competes with USDC issued by Circle, by acquiring the second-largest company in the market.
Circle does not rule out a transaction, but after recent unsuccessful IPO attempts, it considered the proposed valuation too low.
Earlier, Ripple invested in the acquisition of the prime brokerage platform Hidden Road for $1.25 billion, and at the beginning of the year, it launched its own stablecoin RLUSD, which has grown to a market capitalization of about $318 million.
It is unknown whether Ripple will return with a higher offer, but the move shows the company's ambitions to take over competitors in the stablecoin industry.
