Coin USDC parent Circle scraps $9 billion deal with Concord

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Coin USDC parent Circle scraps $9 billion deal with Concord

Circle Internet Financial has decided to end a $9 billion deal with blank-check firm Concord Acquisition Corp, nearly ten months after an earlier agreement was amended.

The proposed transaction timed out, but we are disappointed that it remains part of Circle's core strategy to improve trust and transparency, which has never been more important, said Jeremy Allaire, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Circle.

The company didn't elaborate on its plans to go public. Circle is the principal operator of stable coinUSDC and reported a net income of $43 million and nearly $400 million in cash in the third quarter.

In February, Circle, which was backed by former Barclays boss Bob Diamond, doubled its valuation, having previously valued at $4.5 billion.

The deal's termination underscored the diminishing enthusiasm for both special purpose acquisition companies SPACs and cryptocurrencies as turbulent markets fueled a bearish sentiment for risky bets.

Blank-check vehicle 10 X Capital Venture Acquisition Corp II said in August it mutually ended its $1.25 billion merger with the mining and infrastructure company PrimeBlockchain.

There were rising interest rates and a string of high-profile collapses that wiped out nearly $2 trillion from the sector's valuation. The biggest token, the biggest, is down by three quarters from its record high of $69,000.

While there are a lot of challenges within the industry, I am of the firm belief that we are going to leave the speculative value phase and enter the utility value phase, and stable coin such as USDC will play a huge part, Allaire wrote in a tweet.