In a surprising turn of events, Ripple had reportedly made an offer to buy USDC issuer Circle, which the latter declined.
The crypto firm offered to acquire Circle for $4 to $5 billion, according to a Bloomberg report. However, Circle rejected the bid because it felt the price tag was too low. The report further noted that the USDC issuer is more interested in following through with the initial public offering (IPO) it filed earlier in March.
Meanwhile, Ripple is yet to decide whether it will make another offer to Circle.
This development comes just as the Brad Garlinghouse-led company agreed to acquire prime broker Hidden Road for $1.25 billion earlier this month. It is worth mentioning that Ripple already issues the RLUSD stablecoin, which is the 12th largest by market cap.
As such, an acquisition of Circle would undoubtedly have expanded the crypto firm’s dominance in the stablecoin industry. The RLUSD stablecoin recently passed the $300 million market cap milestone, but it is still lagging behind other stablecoins.
Interestingly, Circle recently launched its payment services for cross-border transactions. This move puts the firm in competition with Ripple, which already offers payment services centered around cross-border transactions.
Circle has also been making moves to expand its services beyond the US, as the USDC stablecoin issuer secured in-principle approval from Abu Dhabi’s financial regulator to operate a money service business in the region.
Pro-XRP lawyer John Deaton also commented on this development in an X post, where he asked if both firms might move to buy or become a bank next.
Deaton further asked how high Brad Garlinghouse will go as part of his vision for the company.
