Binance Buys $100M in CRCL Shares Amid Expanded USDC Partnership With Circle

HIGHLIGHTS Binance bought $100 million worth of Circle shares under a private placement. Both parties also expanded their USDC promotional partnership, which will last for five years. The CRCL stock is up in premarket today. Crypto exchange Binance has purchased up to $100 million in CRCL shares through a private placement by USDC issuer Circle. At the same time, both parties expanded their USDC promotional deal, under which the crypto exchange will receive a monthly incentive fee based on the amount of USDC it holds.
Binance Buys $100M Worth of CRCL Shares Under Private Placement
According to an SEC filing, the USDC issuer entered into a subscription agreement with the crypto exchange under which it issued and sold 1,237,011 CRCL shares at a purchase price of $80.84 per share, for aggregate proceeds of $100 million. Both parties entered into this agreement on September 17, signaling that the exchange bought these shares at a discount to the stock’s market price.

Circle noted that it offered these shares to Binance in a private placement which is exempt from the Securities Act. Meanwhile, the top crypto exchange cannot sell or transfer these shares until the earlier of two years or the termination of the commercial arrangements by the exchange under certain circumstances.

Furthermore, the crypto exchange cannot enter into any hedging, swap, or derivative arrangements with respect to these subscribed CRCL shares. This move comes as Circle continues to expand its operations.

Notably, Circle’s layer-1 network recently went live on mainnet. The USDC issuer also rolled out Bitcoin-backed loans for institutions, with this product available on its layer-1 network and Ethereum.
Five-Year USDC Promotional Deal
Circle also revealed in the SEC filing that it entered into a new arrangement with Binance on September 17, expanding their existing strategic partnership to promote its USDC stablecoin, which the exchange holds through Circle’s Modular Smart Contract Wallet infrastructure service.

“The agreement supersedes and replaces the agreements the Company previously entered into with Binance in November 2024 and in August 2025,” the stablecoin issuer said. Under this new arrangement, Circle will pay a monthly incentive fee, which would represent a percentage of the amount of USDC Binance holds on the infrastructure service.

Furthermore, the crypto exchange has agreed to undertake certain other activities to promote USDC on its platform. The arrangement is effective for five years, although either party may terminate it early if certain specific events occur.

The CRCL stock is up nearly 2% amid this development, trading at around $95 in premarket trading, according to TradingView data.

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