Binance buys $100 million Circle stake with 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 transaction closed immediately after the companies signed the subscription agreement and expanded commercial arrangements. Under a new five-year commercial deal, Binance agreed to promote USDC on its platform. The arrangement covers USDC held through Circle’s Modular Smart Contract Wallet infrastructure. 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 has unilateral termination rights before the agreement expires under specified conditions, according to the filing. Binance’s Circle shares are subject to 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. Binance retains 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. Circle’s founding validator group includes BlackRock, DTCC, ICE, Mastercard and Visa.