📰 On the surface, this deal looks like Binance invested $100 million into Circle—but in reality, it’s more like buying a “preferred shelf” pass for the long term.
On September 17, Binance bought 1,237,011 shares of Class A common stock in Circle at $80.84 per share. At the same time, both sides signed a five-year commercial agreement: Binance is responsible for promoting USDC on its platform, and Circle pays Binance a monthly incentive fee based on the relevant USDC holdings.
🔥 Honestly, the most interesting part isn’t who bought whose stock—it’s who keeps paying whom over time. Binance gets equity, yet in terms of cash flow, it’s still Circle that’s the payer. Even more notably, these shares can’t be sold, transferred, pledged, or hedged for up to two years. The equity feels more like a “deposit” under a cooperation agreement than a financial investment that can be cashed out at will.
💡 Circle also faces significant cost pressure. In 2025, distribution costs related to Binance increased by $152.1 million; in this year’s second quarter, Circle’s distribution and trading costs reached $410.4 million, of which $324.6 million went to Coinbase. Stablecoin supply is growing, but falling interest rates and channel splits will directly squeeze profits.

👀 But Circle isn’t just giving out benefits unilaterally. USDC’s current circulating supply is about $75 billion. In 2025, on-chain transaction volume first surpassed USDT. As of the end of the second quarter, USDC sitting on Circle’s own platform reached $12.4 billion, up 106% year over year. If more balances stay within its own infrastructure, Circle will have more leverage when negotiating revenue sharing in the future.
🤔 So, is this $100 million Binance’s bet on USDC, or is Circle paying for access? In this five-year agreement, who do you think is the more proactive party?
#USDC #币安 #Circle #stablecoin