Key facts
- Circle sold Binance 1,237,011 Class A shares at $80.84 each, raising $100 million.
- The private placement closed September 17.
- Circle will pay Binance a monthly fee based on USDC held via its wallet infrastructure.
- Binance will promote USDC on its platform as part of the agreement.
- Binance cannot sell or hedge the shares for up to two years.
- The deal supersedes previous agreements from November 2024 and August 2025.
Circle issued Binance 1,237,011 shares of its Class A common stock at $80.84 per share in a private placement on September 17, according to a Tuesday filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The purchase price reflected a discount to Circle’s market price before the transaction closed. New York Stock Exchange-traded CRCL shares were up more than 1.3% in Tuesday’s premarket activity after closing Monday at $94.29 apiece. Under the agreement, Circle will pay Binance a monthly incentive fee based on the amount of USDC held through Circle’s Modular Smart Contract Wallet infrastructure. Binance also agreed to undertake additional activities promoting USDC on its platform. Binance has agreed not to sell, transfer, assign, pledge or hypothecate the Circle shares for up to two years, though it retains voting rights during the lockup period. The arrangement replaces agreements the companies entered into in November 2024 and August 2025 and has a five-year term, although either party can terminate it early under specified circumstances. Circle recently launched its Arc Layer 1 network, with Binance among the exchanges providing access.