Binance Invests $100M in Circle Amid Stablecoin Shift

Binance has acquired a $100 million stake in Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin. The deal was announced through an SEC filing and was closed on September 17. As part of the agreement, Binance will promote USDC on its platform and receive compensation for doing so.

The exchange purchased 1.24 million Class A shares from Circle at a price of $80.84 per share. However, Binance is prohibited from freely disposing of these shares for two years or until certain conditions are met, which would allow it to terminate the agreement early.

This move reinforces Binance's strategy of promoting third-party tokens rather than launching its own stablecoin. The exchange previously promoted BUSD, but after regulatory pressure, Paxos stopped issuing new tokens and Binance shifted users towards other dollar-backed stablecoins like USDC.