"Our $100 million investment and five-year commitment represent long-duration conviction," Binance co-CEO Richard Teng said. "A stable, trusted digital dollar should not be a privilege — it should be available to anyone with a phone." Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire stated that the partnership presents opportunities to leverage USDC to expand dollar access. "Together, we see incredible opportunities to leverage USDC to expand dollar access, support savings and investment with innovative digital asset products and reach people and businesses throughout global emerging markets," Allaire said.

Why It Matters

This investment and commercial agreement mark a re-engagement between Binance and Circle after a period of separation regarding USDC support. The five-year term and the $100 million equity stake signal a long-term strategic alignment aimed at expanding the use of the digital dollar in global emerging markets. The structure of the deal, including the lock-up period with voting rights and the incentive fee based on wallet balances, ties the financial interests of both parties to the growth and stability of the USDC ecosystem.

Timeline

In late 2022, Binance ceased support for USDC trading and automatically converted customer USDC balances to Binance USD (BUSD), a stablecoin issued by Paxos. In February 2023, the New York Department of Financial Services ordered Paxos to stop minting BUSD due to concerns about its oversight of its relationship with Binance. On August 12, 2025, Circle Internet Group, Inc. filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Circle Internet Group filed an amended Annual Report on Form 10-K/A for the year ended December 31, 2025, on March 9, 2026, to include audited financial statements of the Circle Reserve Fund as of and for the year ended April 30, 2026. Circle Internet Group filed a Form 8-K on August 5, 2026.

On September 17, 2026, Binance invested $100 million in Circle Internet Group by purchasing 1,237,011 Class A shares at $80.84 per share. On the same date, Binance and Circle entered into a five-year commercial agreement to expand the global reach of the USDC stablecoin. Also on September 17, 2026, it was established that under the commercial agreement, Circle will pay Binance a monthly incentive fee calculated as a percentage of USDC balances held in Circle's Modular Smart Contract Wallet infrastructure.

What's New

Additional details emerged showing that Circle Internet Group filed a Form 8-K on August 5, 2026. Further reporting clarified that Binance invested $100 million in Circle Internet Group by purchasing 1,237,011 Class A shares at $80.84 per share.

Additional information revealed that under the commercial agreement, Circle will pay Binance a monthly incentive fee calculated as a percentage of USDC balances held in Circle's Modular Smart Contract Wallet infrastructure. It was also reported that Binance is prohibited from selling, transferring, pledging, or hedging the acquired Circle shares for a period of two years, with exceptions for affiliate transfers and legally mandated disposals or if Binance exits the commercial deal under specified conditions. Later sources noted that Circle reported $701.3 million in revenue in the latest quarter and $2.75 billion over the past year.

Additional reporting confirmed that Binance retains full voting rights on the acquired Circle shares throughout the lock-up period. It was also disclosed that the share purchase price of $80.84 represented a discount to the market rate, described as 5% below the September 17 closing price of $85.09 in one analysis and about 14% below the prior Monday's closing price in another.