USDC Issuer Circle Changes Mind on Going Public, CEO Reveals Q3 Earnings

Circle, the US financial services firm behind the stablecoin USDC, has changed its mind about seeking a public listing in the near future, and now says it will stay focused on building “a long-term public company.”

The plan to go public has since the beginning of this year been central for Circle, which was set to do so with the help of Concord Acquisition Corp, a publicly traded so-called special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).

Under the terms of Concord’s certificate of incorporation, the SPAC had until December 10 of this year to consummate a business combination with Circle. Now, however, the proposed business combination has been terminated by the board of directors of both Concord and Circle.

“We are disappointed the proposed transaction timed out, however, becoming a public company remains part of Circle’s core strategy to enhance trust and transparency, which has never been more important,” Circle CEO and co-founder Jeremy Allaire commented in a press release on Monday.

The two firms had originally planned to set up a holding company together, which would then be publicly listed, effectively opening up a fast-track to a listing for Circle.

Comments about the firm’s change of plans were also made in a Twitter thread posted by Allaire on Monday:

1/ Some big @circle news. This morning, we announced the termination of our proposed deSPAC transaction. While disappointing that we did not complete SEC qualification in time, we remain focused on building a long-term public company. https://t.co/R0XYfCFD54

— Jeremy Allaire (@jerallaire) December 5, 2022

Circle now in its “best financial position” ever

Meanwhile, commenting in the same thread on his firm’s financial performance in the third quarter, the CEO said that although there are “a lot of challenges” in the crypto industry at the moment, Circle remains in a good position.

“We are strong, growing, profitable and in the best financial position we’ve ever been in,” Allaire wrote in the thread, while pointing to a third-quarter revenue of $274m, $43m in net income, and a $400m balance sheet.

In conclusion, Allaire said that he sees the crypto industry more broadly as currently being in the process moving to a new phase characterized more by utility and less by speculative value.

“[…] I am of the very firm conviction that we are going to decisively leave the speculative value phase and enter the utility value phase, and stablecoins such as USDC will play a huge part,” Allaire wrote.