Binance bought $100 million of Circle stock and renewed their USDC partnership for five years, deepening ties between the exchange and the stablecoin issuer. The deal expands USDC distribution on Binance even as the token's market value stays far behind Tether's USDT.
Circle said on Sept. 22 that Binance had purchased $100 million of its Class A common stock and renewed their partnership around USDC, its dollar-pegged stablecoin, for five years, with a focus on distribution in emerging markets. The agreement builds on a relationship that began in late 2024.
Binance becomes a Circle shareholder
Circle's SEC filing shows Binance bought 1,237,011 Class A shares at $80.84 each, a private placement that generated $100 million and closed on Sept. 17. Binance retains voting rights on the shares but agreed to restrictions on selling, transferring, pledging or hedging them for up to two years, subject to specified exceptions.
Under the commercial agreement, Circle will pay Binance a monthly incentive tied to qualifying USDC held through Circle's Modular Smart Contract Wallet infrastructure service, and Binance agreed to promote USDC on its platform. Either side can terminate before the five-year term ends under specified conditions, and the new deal replaces agreements signed in November 2024 and August 2025.
USDC trading on Binance has surged
Kaiko data cited by CoinDesk showed USDC-quoted spot markets on Binance rising from 140 to 329 since the original partnership began. Monthly USDC trading volume on the exchange climbed from $20 billion-$40 billion to more than $80 billion in recent months. Binance now handles roughly $5 billion-$10 billion of USDC spot trading per day, according to Kaiko's head of research Anastasia Melachrinos, who put that at around 10 to 20 times the activity on many competing venues.
Binance co-CEO Richard Teng called the investment and five-year commitment "long-duration conviction" in Circle and USDC. Clear Street analyst Owen Lau told CoinDesk the structure further aligns Binance and Circle, comparing it with Circle's existing relationship with Coinbase.
USDC still trails Tether by a wide margin
CoinGecko recorded USDC's market cap at roughly $75.3 billion on Sept. 23, up from $73.6 billion on Sept. 17. Tether, however, remained far larger, with USDT's market value near $183.8 billion on Sept. 26 and daily trading volume close to $69 billion.
Gravity Team CEO Martins Benkitis told CoinDesk the Binance deal gives Circle an incentive and distribution route to grow USDC usage, but cautioned that USDT's established liquidity and user behavior make rapid market-share shifts difficult. Circle has meanwhile pursued other channels, expanding its USDC partnership with OKX to cover spot trading, margin and futures markets. It also launched the Arc mainnet on Sept. 16 with institutional validators including BlackRock, Visa and Mastercard.
Circle is also pushing beyond exchanges: on Sept. 8 it announced a deal to acquire Tazapay, a Singapore-based cross-border payments company valued at $400 million in stock, expected to close in 2027 pending regulatory approval.
Source: crypto.news
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