According to an SEC filing submitted by Circle Internet Group on Tuesday, Binance has acquired $100 million worth of stock in the issuer of the USDC stablecoin.
Under a September 17 agreement, Circle provided the exchange with 1,237,011 Class A shares priced at $80.84 each. This purchase price represents a roughly 14% discount compared to the stock’s closing price on Monday.
What Binance Received and What It Agreed to Give Up
Because the transaction was completed privately rather than through the open market, the shares qualified for an exemption from SEC registration. Binance is subject to a two-year lockup period during which it cannot sell the shares or employ offsetting trades to hedge its position.
However, this restriction can lift earlier if Binance chooses to exit the commercial partnership under specific terms outlined in the regulatory filing. Either organization holds the right to terminate the agreement upon the occurrence of designated events. Throughout the arrangement, Binance retains full voting rights for all of the shares.
Alongside the equity transaction, the two companies entered into a five-year commercial partnership. Binance committed to promoting USDC through Circle’s Modular Smart Contract Wallet—software that enables exchanges or apps to store and transfer digital dollars for users without requiring them to manage private keys directly.
In exchange, Circle will provide Binance with a monthly incentive fee determined as a percentage of the USDC held within that wallet system, though the exact percentage was omitted from the filing.
Circle Stock Went Into the Deal Bruised
The deal arrived shortly after a volatile period for Circle’s stock. As BeInCrypto reported at the time, Circle shares plummeted 11% during a single session just two days prior to the signing, following the Senate’s stalling of the CLARITY Act, legislation designed to clarify which U.S. regulatory bodies oversee various digital assets.
The equity has since bounced back. It finished Monday at $94.49, marking a 2.95% daily gain, and changed hands at $95.76 during Tuesday’s pre-market hours.
Over the past three months, the stock has risen 18.53%. Its relative strength index sits at 56.2, reflecting neutral momentum inside the traditional 30 to 70 range.
Circle commands a market capitalization of approximately $25.8 billion and trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of about 19. The company posted $701.3 million in revenue for its most recent quarter, bringing its total revenue over the last year to $2.75 billion.
The Cost Side of Distribution
Compensating an exchange to drive USDC adoption is a familiar strategy for Circle, which maintains a similar stablecoin revenue-sharing arrangement with Coinbase that influenced its expansion into wrapped Bitcoin earlier this year. These distribution expenses remain the primary pressure point on earnings generated by stablecoin reserves.
Currently, USDC stands as the sixth-largest cryptocurrency, boasting a market cap of $74.6 billion while trading steady at $0.9998.
For investors who continued buying through the recent downturn—including Cathie Wood’s ARK funds—this transaction offers a fresh benchmark for how external entities value the company: Binance valued it at $80.84 per share, whereas the open market values it near $95.50.
Circle’s upcoming quarterly financial report will reveal whether the newly introduced fee increases the company’s distribution expenses or if it is adequately offset by incoming USDC balances.