USDC issuer Circle will go public through Concord Acquisition Corp (NYSE: CND), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition corporation (SPAC). The deal will value Circle at $4.5 billion.

SPAC or Special-purpose acquisition company is a type of company created specifically for the purpose of merging (and only for this purpose) with a private company that plans to go public but does not want to conduct a classic IPO and participate in all the preparatory processes for this matter. 

Last month, Circle raised $440 million in funding. Co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire commented:

“With strong sponsors who support our mission and vision, we will redouble our efforts to expand into new markets, continue fundamental technology innovation, and grow our team.”

What is Circle?

Circle is a Boston-based financial services company that started in 2013 with a blockchain app for peer-to-peer payments. In 2018, it co-created USD Coin through a joint venture with Coinbase and a consortium called Centre. Circle also helps other companies issue stablecoins.

In early 2021, Circle added support for Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments for USDC coins. Circle customers in the US can now use ACH to electronically transfer funds between regulated banking institutions, pay bills, and receive money from their bank accounts.

Five months later, the company partnered with cryptocurrency exchange FTX to expand USDC capabilities.

Coinbase recently began offering high yields on USDC farming. Starting this week, retail investors can sign up to earn 4% on their stablecoin holdings. That's well above what regular banks offer, which currently sit around 0.5%.

High-profile figures in the payments industry are also paying attention to Circle. Dante Disparte, formerly executive vice president of the Facebook-led Diem (formerly known as Libra) association, joined Circle as chief strategist in April 2021.

Today, the total market cap of USD Coin is just under $26 billion.