Binance bought $100 million of Circle shares in a private placement, alongside a five-year deal that pays the exchange to promote USDC across its platform. Circle's stock has since risen well above the purchase price, even as Binance cannot sell the shares for up to two years. The deal replaces two earlier USDC agreements and closed a day after Circle launched its Arc blockchain.
Binance bought $100 million of Circle shares as the two companies signed a five-year deal that pays the exchange to promote the USDC stablecoin on its platform. Circle issued Binance 1.24 million Class A shares at $80.84 each in a private placement that closed Sept. 17, according to an SEC filing published Tuesday.
The exchange cannot sell, transfer or hedge the shares for up to two years, or until it ends the commercial arrangements early under specified circumstances, though it keeps its voting rights. Circle said the $80.84 price reflected a discount to its market value before the sale.
USDC deal replaces two earlier agreements
Under the expanded five-year partnership, Circle will pay Binance a monthly incentive fee calculated as a percentage of the USDC held through its Modular Smart Contract Wallet service, while Binance carries out promotional activities for the stablecoin. The arrangement replaces Circle and Binance's earlier USDC deals from November 2024 and August 2025, and either side can terminate the new one early if specified events occur.
Circle shares climb since the sale
CRCL was trading in the mid-$80s on Sept. 17 and then rose through the following sessions to close at $94.49 on Sept. 21. At that price, Binance's stake is worth around $116.9 million, some $16.9 million more than it paid — a gain it cannot yet realize under the lockup. The stock is still down about 34% over 12 months, against a 16.5% gain for the S&P 500.
Deal follows Circle's Arc mainnet launch
The equity purchase closed a day after Circle switched on Arc, a Layer 1 network with BlackRock, DTCC and Visa among its founding validators and USDC as its gas token. Binance had completed its integration of USDC deposits on Arc on Sept. 16, a day before the equity deal closed.
Sources: CoinDesk, Decrypt, crypto.news
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