Ripple vs Circle: What’s Behind a Possible Bid to Take Over the Mastodon of Stablecoins?
By: incrypted|2025/05/05 20:00:08
0
Share
In this arcticle: 1. An Offer That Could be Turned Down 2. Hunting the Giant 3. Not a Shabby Circle 4. What's the Bottom Line? .post-accordion-wrapper .accordion-content { max-height: 0; overflow: hidden; } On April 30, 2025, Bloomberg, citing anonymous sources, reported that Ripple Labs made an offer to acquire Circle Internet Financial, one of the largest players in the stablecoin market and an issuer of USDC. According to the publication, the deal was valued in the range of $4 billion to $5 billion and was rejected.The publication caused a resonance in the crypto community and became a topic of discussion among analysts and market participants. Is it possible that Ripple’s attempt to gain control over Circle is not a desire to take over a competitor, but a strategic move that reveals the company’s ambitions? Incrypted ‘s editorial team investigated the situation and gathered details around this process.An Offer That Could be Turned DownAccording to available information, Ripple allegedly offered to acquire Circle based on a valuation of $4-5 billion. These figures are based on market expectations ahead of Circle ‘s potential IPO and expert opinions. However, all of this did not stop the firm from rejecting the offer.If journalists are to be believed, Circle considered the offer not only undervalued, but inconsistent with its strategic importance and long-term potential. In addition, the USDC issuer has long been considering the possibility of the above-mentioned IPO. Circle has previously attempted to go public. In 2022, it planned to list through a deal with SPAC for up to $9 billion. However, the agreement was not finalized then.In April 2025, the company filed for an IPO with the SEC, targeting a Class A offering on the NYSE. The IPO was to be underwritten by leading investment banks including JPMorgan, Citi and Deutsche Bank, underscoring the strong interest from institutional investors.However, shortly after filing with the SEC, the company decided to postpone going public, according to the WSJ. The reason for this was allegedly the turmoil in the financial markets caused by the U.S. trade war.Two days after Bloomberg’s publication, rumors began circulating online that Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse had raised his bid to $20 billion. However, Incrypted’s fact-checking showed that these reports were based solely on social media posts that were not supported by any evidence.A fake screenshot of a statement from Ripple Labs CTO David Schwartz. Data: @Crypt0Senseii Moreover, a number of major influencers published a screenshot in which Ripple Labs CTO David Schwartz allegedly states the company’s maximum offer of $6 billion. This information is also a fake and, apparently, the firm’s representative did not make such statements.At the time of writing, there is no confirmed information about the new offer, and the companies themselves do not comment on the situation around the rumors of a possible takeover. Hunting the GiantThe attempt to acquire Circle looks like a logical continuation of Ripple’s strategy to strengthen its position in the market of tokenized assets and payment infrastructure. In December 2024, the company launched RLUSD, a dollar-stablecoin backed by fiat reserves and US Treasuries.It runs on both its own XRP Ledger blockchain and the Ethereum network. According to the company’s statement, this expands its scope of use. At the time of writing, Stablecoin has a market capitalization of about $317 million, according to CoinMarketCap.Information regarding the RLUSD stablecoin. Data: CoinMarketCap.While the company considers RLUSD’s launch a success, it still lags significantly behind USDC (capitalization of about $61 billion) and USDT (over $149 billion). With Ripple’s share of global settlement limited and competition for institutional customers intensifying, control of a more mature ecosystem could provide a serious advantage, says crypto lawyer Bill Morgan.“I just believe that the adoption of RLUSD is not happening fast enough to satisfy Ripple’s ambitions. Perhaps RLUSD was part of a strategy to acquire Circle,” he said. Ripple has already shown its penchant for strategic acquisitions. In April 2025, the company announced its intention to buy out brokerage platform Hidden Road for $1.25 billion. According to a press release from the firm, this would provide it with access to traditional liquidity and integration with classic markets.It also has Metaco’s custodial platform, CBDC project for working with government agencies and liquidity and payment routing solutions in its portfolio. There is a possibility that Ripple is ready to move from internal growth to external scaling through mergers, Forbes noted.Not a Shabby Circle As for Circle, the company does not appear to be in need of a takeover by anyone. The USDC issuer is showing solid financials, which strengthens its negotiating position. Based on documents filed with the SEC on Form S-1, the company has $1.68 billion in revenue in 2024. And 99% of that amount is interest income from reserves, which are U.S. Treasury securities and REPO agreements. Despite the decline from 2023 ($267.6 million vs. $155.7 million), Circle remains profitable for the second consecutive year. Positive cash flow from operations totaled $344.6 million, and its available assets at the end of the period reached $45.8 billion.According to the IPO filing, key growth areas for Circle are product diversification (including EURC, USYC and payment APIs). In addition, the company is betting on expanding licenses in various jurisdictions and developing partnerships with major players — Coinbase, Binance, Visa, MoneyGram.At the same time, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire regularly announces the successful promotion of one or another of the company’s products, be it the CCTP crosschain data transfer protocol or the development of the EURC stablecoin.Circle CEO’s publication on the EURC steiblcoin. Data: @jerallaireJudging by the wording in documents and public statements, Circle has been quite successful in strengthening its market position. The rejection of Ripple’s offer fits logically into this strategy. Instead of teaming up with a competitor, Circle prefers to strengthen its own infrastructure and role in the emerging landscape of digital finance.What’s the Bottom Line?Taking a broader view, Circle is not just a USDC issuer. It is a systemically important player in digital currencies, with a mature customer base, international licenses and established relationships with regulators. For a company like Ripple looking to establish a large-scale presence in digital payments and assets, this acquisition represents strategic value.Buying Circle could tremendously strengthen Ripple’s position as a global provider of settlement infrastructure. Beyond the obvious benefits — over $60 billion in USDC capitalization, $25 trillion in transaction volume — an acquirer could gain control of integration points with major fintechs and Circle’s technology stack.However, merging these companies is typically a lengthy process, where acquisition talks can last for years. And even then, discussions are no guarantee of success when it comes to a billion-dollar deal. In addition, such agreements come with increased regulatory scrutiny, especially in the US and EU. An example of a failed merger attempt here is the case of Galaxy Digital and BitGo for $1.2 billion. The acquisition negotiations lasted almost two years, but in the end did not result in a takeover.In general, we can say that Ripple’s possible attempt to buy Circle is not just a one-off deal, but part of a broader struggle for control over key infrastructure elements of the crypto market. Сообщение Ripple vs Circle: What’s Behind a Possible Bid to Take Over the Mastodon of Stablecoins? появились сначала на INCRYPTED.
You may also like

The Aave civil war escalates, Morpho quietly doubles: Is the lending throne about to change hands?
Wall Street asset management giant Apollo Global Management invested $160 million in Morpho.

Dune Stablecoin Research: The Flow and Demand of a $300 Billion Market
In the dataset, transfers are no longer simply labeled as pure "transaction volume," but are classified as different on-chain activities. This is the difference between "just knowing that $100 trillion has been transferred" and "understanding why it was transferred."

Stripe Annual Letter: New cognitive density is extremely high, especially the 5-level model of "AI + Payments"
Every trend here is affecting everyone's future survival.

Sam Altman's Twenty-Four Hours: The Pentagon said "no" twice, but only one was serious
In Silicon Valley, Altman's sub-12-hour move has a name. It's not called backstabbing, it's called timing.

The US-Iran Conflict Spreads to the Crypto Space: What to Expect in the Market on Monday
The most important industry in the crypto world, only 300 kilometers away from the missile's impact point

Lily Liu, the chair of the Solana Foundation, shouted "Don't waste time on crypto," is the crypto industry really dead?
The interest of the younger generation is shifting from cryptocurrency to the field of artificial intelligence, which coincides with the current phenomenon in the cryptocurrency industry.

The little deer live by the water and grass
Mining companies have never been the most devout believers in Bitcoin. Under the pressures of halving compressing profits, financial reports showing revenue growth without profit increase, and coin prices falling below mining costs, the industry is collectively de-risking.

The world belongs to Chinese people who speak English
The world is vast, and only playing half of it is truly a loss.

Why Stop at 126K? Michael Saylor Breaks Down BTC Stagnation and Retail Absence Truth
Bitcoin is digital capital, and I will spend a thousand hours explaining it to you. Eventually, you will understand, but you will still have to endure a 45% crash.

Virtuals Protocol's inaugural Titan project: ROBO aims to give a wallet to a robot
This is a key step in Virtuals expanding the Agent Economy into the Embodied AI and Robotics field.

Stablecoin Latest Report: Actual Distribution and Circulation Much More Notable Than Supply
The Truth about Stablecoin Circulation Speed, Concentration, and Structure After Doubling the Supply

Paradigm's New Arithmetic: When Crypto Can't Hold 12.7 Billion, AI Becomes the Answer
It took Paradigm three years to emerge from the ruins of FTX.

Wintermute Founder: In the Lost Cryptocurrency Market, What Can We Still Do?
This is more like a manifesto, discussing "the very reason we are here."

$1.3 Billion Debt: BitDeer Faces Tough Battle
Wu Jihan is waiting for AI's money to catch up with the speed of debt.

Anthropic's IPO Gamble: At the Most Unlikely Moment, It Chose to Say No
In the AI Era, what is the most valuable thing?

Paradigm's Math Problem: $12.7 Billion, Too Big for a Single Crypto Fund
Emerging from the ruins of FTX, Paradigm took three years

Ethereum Unveils Scaling Roadmap, What's Different This Time?
Short-term improvements to execution efficiency through the Gas mechanism optimization and block validation parallelization, and long-term scalability through ZK-EVM and blobs data architecture.

Anthropic Ban Wave, OpenAI $100 Billion Funding Controversy: What Is the Overseas Crypto Community Talking About Today?
What Have Foreigners Been Most Interested in Over the Last 24 Hours?
The Aave civil war escalates, Morpho quietly doubles: Is the lending throne about to change hands?
Wall Street asset management giant Apollo Global Management invested $160 million in Morpho.
Dune Stablecoin Research: The Flow and Demand of a $300 Billion Market
In the dataset, transfers are no longer simply labeled as pure "transaction volume," but are classified as different on-chain activities. This is the difference between "just knowing that $100 trillion has been transferred" and "understanding why it was transferred."
Stripe Annual Letter: New cognitive density is extremely high, especially the 5-level model of "AI + Payments"
Every trend here is affecting everyone's future survival.
Sam Altman's Twenty-Four Hours: The Pentagon said "no" twice, but only one was serious
In Silicon Valley, Altman's sub-12-hour move has a name. It's not called backstabbing, it's called timing.
The US-Iran Conflict Spreads to the Crypto Space: What to Expect in the Market on Monday
The most important industry in the crypto world, only 300 kilometers away from the missile's impact point
Lily Liu, the chair of the Solana Foundation, shouted "Don't waste time on crypto," is the crypto industry really dead?
The interest of the younger generation is shifting from cryptocurrency to the field of artificial intelligence, which coincides with the current phenomenon in the cryptocurrency industry.