Circle Is A Steal Deal for Ripple: Chamath Palihapitiya

Billionaire investor Chamath Palihapitiya stated Ripple or Coinbase acquiring USDC stablecoin issuer Circle, would prove to be a steal deal. His comments come as Circle IPO seeks to raise $1.1 billion, putting it among the top 10 IPOs this year, by issuance size. With USDC capturing 30% of the stablecoin market at $60B valuation, the offering puts the CRCL stock at a listing price of $31 per share.

Buying Circle at $12 Billion Is Also A Steal Deal

The current offering at $31 per share gives Circle a fully diluted valuation of $8.1 billion. With the IPO subscribed 25x, Chamath stated in his recent X post that “If someone can buy it for even $12-13b, that’s a steal, imo, for what this business could be worth in 20 years”.

The venture capitalist also lauded the Circle for building a solid infrastructure and positioning itself ahead of the upcoming US stablecoin bill aka GENIUS Act. Chamath believes that eventually there will be a fierce competition in the USD stablecoin market with major players like Stripe, Square, Ripple, and Coinbase aiming for market dominance.

Although this could be good for end businesses and consumers, it will be tough for issuers as profit margins would decline. Chamath wrote:

“The company that builds the most efficient infrastructure and sells it for cheapest: cost-plus (with a thin margin on top) will probably take this market”.

However, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said that Ripple never made a bid to acquire the USDC issuer, putting earlier speculations to rest.

Chamath’s post on X led to community reactions. Scott Melker, host of the popular Wolf of All Streets podcast, stated that Circle’s success depends a lot on the “shakeout of Tether” in the United States.

“If they get a regulatory green light, they will be hard to beat,” he added. As we know, Tether is already out of Europe as it failed to comply with the MiCA rules. It will be interesting to see whether it can pass through the US regulatory developments.

On the other hand, Wall Street banking giants are also putting collective efforts into stablecoins. Arthur Hayes said that any fruitful development could lead to the death of USDC and other small players.

Circle Posts Stellar Growth

The USDC stablecoin issuer has registered impressive growth in the last two years. From 2022 to 2024, the company achieved a 118% increase in annual revenues, driven by the soaring adoption of USDC in decentralized finance (DeFi) and broader payment systems.

USDC’s circulating supply has surged from under $3 billion in 2020 to more than $60 billion in 2025. Monthly transaction volumes have followed a similar trajectory, growing from less than $50 billion in 2020 to over $2.3 trillion as of May 2025.

USDC’s circulating supply has surged from under $3 billion in 2020 to more than $60 billion in 2025. Similarly, monthly transaction volumes have surged from less than $50 billion in 2020 to over $2.3 trillion as of May 2025.

Ethereum remains the dominant blockchain for USDC, with over 70% of the supply now residing on its network, including its Layer 2 ecosystem. While Solana dominated USDC transactions in 2024, the focus has moved to Ethereum and Coinbase’s Base Layer 2 solution in 2025.