Two years ago, before the crypto meltdown of 2022, stablecoin issuer Circle announced that it was going to go public via SPAC at a $9 billion valuation.
But then, you know, 2022 happened (Celsius, 3AC, Luna, BlockFi, FTX, etc). So plans were quietly shelved in December of that horrible year for crypto.
2023 was a very different year. Bitcoin was up 150%, Coinbase stock soared 400%, and crypto enjoyed some legalvictories against the SEC.
This year crypto is also starting off with a bang. It is no coincidence that the day after the SEC approved a bitcoin ETF Circle filed confidentially for an IPO.
While Circle has nothing directly to do with a bitcoin ETF, as I said in the newsletter yesterday, it is a very positive sign for crypto in general. And Circle wants to take advantage of this moment.
Circle is best known as the issuer of the #2 stablecoin by market value, USDC (behind only Tether). It is building a global financial framework based on stablecoin infrastructure. An alternative to the traditional payments rails.
Assuming a successful IPO, Circle will have even more firepower to bring this “digital dollar” framework to the masses.
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