Binance buys $100 million stake in Circle under USDC deal

Binance has purchased a $100 million stake in Circle Internet Group, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, under a new five-year commercial agreement that will see Circle pay the crypto exchange to promote USDC across its platform, according to a securities filing Circle made on Tuesday. Circle disclosed in an 8K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it issued and sold 1,237,011 Class A shares to Binance at $80.84 per share in a private placement that closed on September 17. The transaction raised roughly $100 million and was completed immediately after the two companies signed the expanded commercial arrangements. The shares were sold privately rather than on the open market, exempting them from SEC registration. Under the five-year agreement, Circle will pay Binance a monthly incentive fee calculated as a percentage of the USDC held through Circle's Modular Smart Contract Wallet infrastructure, a service that allows applications and exchanges to hold and move digital dollars on a user's behalf without the user managing private keys. Binance, in turn, has agreed to undertake activities promoting USDC on its platform.