According to reports from Bloomberg citing anonymous sources, blockchain payment company Ripple had proposed to acquire the stablecoin USDC issuer Circle for a price between $4 billion and $5 billion, but this acquisition proposal was rejected by Circle on the grounds that the offer was 'too low.' The report also indicated that even now, Ripple remains interested in acquiring Circle.
Circle is the second largest issuer of the USD stablecoin USDC in the world, second only to Tether (USDT), which has the highest market share. Ripple, on the other hand, launched its own USD-pegged stablecoin RLUSD earlier this year, clearly intending to extend its reach into the stablecoin market.
At the time the acquisition news broke, Circle was preparing to advance its initial public offering (IPO) plans.
According to previous reports from Zombit, the company is seeking to go public, and the IPO valuation seems to be $5 billion, although this valuation has been strongly questioned by some community members. Dragonfly Capital partner Omar Kanji stated on social media at the time that there was nothing impressive in the data from the documents, and he couldn't understand how Circle's IPO would be priced at a $5 billion valuation; it felt more like Circle was trying to seize the last opportunity to raise funds before stronger competitors entered the market, aiming for more liquidity.
Regarding the rumors of the acquisition, Circle has not yet responded officially; a Ripple spokesperson quoted CEO Brad Garlinghouse's previous interview with Bloomberg, stating that the company may consider acquiring other blockchain infrastructure firms in the future, but did not provide specific comments on the Circle case.
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