Circle Sells Binance $100M Stake Tied to Five-Year USDC Promotion Deal

Circle sold Binance 1,237,011 Class A shares at $80.84 each, raising $100 million in a private placement that closed September 17, per an 8-K filed September 22. The deal pairs the equity stake with a five-year agreement in which Circle pays Binance a monthly incentive fee based on USDC held through its Modular Smart Contract Wallet service, while Binance promotes the stablecoin on its platform. The filing says the arrangement supersedes and replaces pacts from November 2024 and August 2025. Binance cannot sell, transfer, pledge or hedge the shares for two years from closing, subject to exceptions, though it retains voting rights. CRCL traded in the mid-$80s on September 17 and closed at $94.49 on September 21, valuing Binance's stake near $116.9 million. The stock is down about 34% over 12 months. The news follows Circle's launch of Arc, a Layer 1 network with BlackRock, DTCC and Visa as founding validators, and a Bloomberg report that federal prosecutors are investigating Binance over alleged Iran sanctions breaches.