Ripple bid up to $5 billion to acquire Circle, offer rejected

Ripple Labs attempted to acquire Circle Internet Financial, the company behind the USDC stablecoin, with an offer between $4 billion and $5 billion, but the bid was turned down as undervalued, according to a Wednesday report from Bloomberg, first shared by Matthew Sigel, Head of Digital Assets Research at VanEck.

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According to sources with knowledge of the matter, Ripple is still eyeing the Circle acquisition but has not determined if it will put forward another offer.

The attempted acquisition comes amid increased crypto M&A and IPO activity, driven by rising token prices and growing investor interest.

Several companies, such as Kraken, BitGo, Gemini, and Bullish, are considering going public in 2025, seizing on a pro-crypto, business-friendly environment under the Trump administration.

Earlier this month, Circle filed for an initial public offering (IPO) with the SEC, seeking approval to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker ‘CRCL’.

However, a few days later, the company reportedly considered delaying its IPO plan due to macroeconomic uncertainties influenced by recent US trade policies. Other companies, such as Klarna and StubHub, are also pondering IPO delays.

The deal came into light after Ripple agreed to acquire prime brokerage firm Hidden Road for $1.25 billion.

In a recent interview with CNBC, Ripple President Monica Long said that an IPO is not part of Ripple’s current agenda, emphasizing that the company is in a strong financial position with billions of dollars in cash reserves and does not need to raise funds or increase market exposure by going public at this time.

She noted that companies typically go public to raise capital or expand brand influence, but Ripple currently does not need either. The company is focused on growing the business and making strategic acquisitions instead of pursuing an IPO, even after settling its legal dispute with the SEC.

Ripple has entered the stablecoin race with RLUSD, but it has a long way to go to catch up to Circle’s USDC. As of May 1, RLUSD had a market cap of $317 million—far behind USDC’s $62 billion, according to CoinGecko.