Circle

Circle is a financial technology company founded in October 2013 by Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville in Boston, Massachusetts. It issues two stablecoins: USDC, pegged to the US dollar, and EURC, pegged to the euro. USDC is the product that put Circle on the map and keeps it there. It is the most widely used dollar-denominated stablecoin in decentralized finance, corporate treasury, and cross-border payments.

Circle’s mission is to raise global economic prosperity through frictionless exchange of value, focusing on making money digital and available on the internet. Think of USDC as a digital dollar bill that any software can read, send, and verify without a bank in the middle. That capability unlocks a wide range of applications, from paying a freelancer in Argentina in seconds to settling a trade on a decentralized exchange.

According to data compiled by Visa, USDC overtook Tether in stablecoin transaction volume in April 2024. This is a meaningful benchmark. Transaction volume reflects actual economic activity, not just holdings, and surpassing Tether confirmed USDC’s real-world utility across institutional and retail users alike.

From January 2021 to March 2025, Circle minted over $558 billion in USDC and redeemed over $502 billion, highlighting sustained platform activity. This volume confirms USDC is not dormant collateral sitting in wallets. It is moving money.

Circle reported $1.68 billion in revenue and reserve income in 2024, up from $1.45 billion in 2023 and $772 million in 2022. Most of that revenue comes from interest earned on the US Treasury securities and cash backing every USDC in circulation. Every dollar of USDC held is a dollar Circle has invested in short-duration Treasuries, generating yield that flows to Circle’s income statement.

Circle was the first company to receive a New York State BitLicense, which is famously difficult to obtain, in 2015. That regulatory credibility became a key competitive advantage as institutional clients started demanding compliant counterparties.

Circle had raised $1.1 billion from investors by 2019. Investors with more than 5% ownership ahead of the IPO included Accel, General Catalyst, Breyer Capital, IDG Capital, and Oak Investment Partners. Circle’s rise was also supported by private funding from BlackRock, Fidelity, and Coinbase Ventures. The presence of BlackRock and Fidelity alongside crypto-native funds like Coinbase Ventures reflects Circle’s position at the intersection of traditional finance and digital assets.

Circle debuted on the New York Stock Exchange on June 5, 2025, under the ticker CRCL, tripling in price on its first day and making founder Jeremy Allaire a paper billionaire. The offering raised $1.05 billion, with Circle priced at $31 per share above the expected range, giving it a fully diluted valuation of $8.06 billion at IPO. By the close of its first trading day, Circle’s market capitalization had surged past $16 billion after shares opened at $69 and peaked at $103.75.

Circle shares now trade publicly on the NYSE under CRCL, giving any investor direct access to the company through standard brokerage accounts. For discreet or large volume transactions, you may still want a secondary marketplace to manage that position. Acquire.Fi’s OTC and Secondaries Marketplace is designed for exactly that purpose.

If you want to buy Circle stock OTC from existing shareholders who want to exit their positions, you can do so on Acquire.Fi by engaging with existing offers or by submitting a new Buy listing with your preferred valuation and equity amount.

If you want to sell Circle stock OTC, you can engage with existing offers or submit a new Sell listing with your asking price and the amount of shares you want to move.

Acquire.Fi handles everything from that point. The team runs background checks, sends NDAs, and introduces both parties. Due diligence and payment settlement are yours to manage, but Acquire.Fi will step in wherever it can to keep the deal moving.