Ripple Made a Multibillion-Dollar Move to Acquire Stablecoin Issuer Circle, but Was Rejected

Blockchain payments company Ripple made a multibillion-dollar move to acquire stablecoin issuer Circle but was turned down, according to a Bloomberg report on April 30.

The report said Ripple bid between $4 billion and $5 billion for Circle. However, the stablecoin issuer rejected the offer.

The report said Circle considered the bid too low for the company’s value.

The time frame of the report suggests the move came less than 30 days after Circle filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in the United States in April.

This timing may indicate Circle is currently concentrating on its public market strategy.

It is not yet clear whether Ripple will pursue another bid for Circle. The report said the company is still considering its options following the initial rejection.

Stablecoins have become a key battleground in the cryptocurrency sector. Circle’s USDC currently commands a market cap of approximately $62 billion.

This makes USDC the second-largest stablecoin globally. It trails only Tether’s USDT and ranks as the seventh-largest cryptocurrency overall by market capitalization.

Earlier this year, reports surfaced that Circle was in talks with several potential buyers. These discussions began after several private equity firms approached Circle with unsolicited bids.

Those bids were reportedly valued at around $3 billion. However, these offers were said to be uninteresting to Circle.

Later reports suggested that several crypto giants were planning to make offers for Circle.

The report also said that Circle was seeking a valuation of at least $10 billion for a potential sale.

At the time, sources told Token Post that a "multibillion-dollar" acquisition would be one of the largest deals in cryptocurrency history.

The report comes after Ripple completed the acquisition of prime brokerage firm Hidden Road for approximately $1.2 billion in April.

The acquisition is part of Ripple’s broader strategy to expand its portfolio and capitalize on the growing demand for digital assets.

The move is set to help scale activity for XRP and the XRP Ledger. It represents one of the largest deals in cryptocurrency industry history.

Earlier this year, Apex disclosed plans to sell a majority stake in its digital assets business. This division is valued at an impressive $3 billion.

The integration of Hidden Road’s technology is expected to facilitate the expansion of institutional-grade liquidity into the rapidly growing markets for cryptocurrencies, DeFi protocols, and NFT products.

Moreover, it will enable the launch of new products and services to cater to the evolving needs of institutional investors in Web3.

In 2024, rumors began circulating that a merger between cryptocurrency exchange giant Binance and payments giant PayPal was in the works.

The rumors emerged after PayPal invested $500 million in Binance.

Both companies declined to comment on the rumors at the time.

Earlier this year, rumors began swirling that crypto exchange giant Coinbase was planning to acquire e-money giant Wise.

The rumors emerged after Balder Tongue, the co-founder of the e-money giant, expressed his interest in seeing a “best-case scenario” where the two companies join forces.

Both companies have yet to comment on the rumors.