Binance takes $100 million Circle stake alongside five-year USDC deal

Binance bought a $100 million stake in Circle as the companies expanded their commercial arrangement around USDC, according to an 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday. 

The exchange purchased 1,237,011 shares of Circle’s Class A common stock at $80.84 per share in a private placement, the filing said. The transaction closed immediately after the companies signed the subscription agreement and expanded commercial arrangements.

The equity sale closed concurrently with a new five-year commercial deal expanding the promotion of USDC held through Circle’s Modular Smart Contract Wallet infrastructure. Under the agreement, Circle agreed to pay Binance a monthly incentive fee based on a percentage of the USDC held through the wallet service.

The deal supersedes earlier agreements between the companies signed in 2024 and 2025. Either party holds unilateral termination rights prior to expiration under specified conditions, according to the filing. 

Meanwhile, Binance’s Circle shares are subject to certain restrictions. The exchange cannot sell, transfer, or hedge the shares for two years, unless it terminates the commercial arrangement under certain circumstances, subject to customary exceptions. It keeps voting rights on the stake during that period.

The deal comes as Circle expands its USDC infrastructure beyond the stablecoin itself. Last week, the New York-based company launched the public mainnet of Arc, its Layer 1 blockchain, where USDC is used to pay transaction fees.

Circle said more than 100 applications were available at launch, while its founding validator group includes BlackRock, DTCC, ICE, Mastercard, and Visa.