Binance purchased $100 million of Circle Internet Group (NYSE: CRCL) shares on September 17, 2026, tying it to a five-year deal that pays it to promote USDC.
The Big Picture
- Binance bought 1.24 million Class A Circle shares at $80.84 each through a private placement that closed September 17.
- The price sat 14% below Circle’s prior closing price of $94.49, according to Yahoo Finance.
- Binance cannot sell, transfer or hedge the shares for up to two years but keeps voting rights.
- Circle will pay Binance a monthly incentive fee tied to USDC held through its Modular Smart Contract Wallet service.
- The deal replaces earlier USDC agreements the companies signed in November 2024 and August 2025.
Binance Locks In a Two-Year Hold
Circle issued Binance 1,237,011 Class A shares in a private placement, according to an SEC filing the company published. The filing states Binance agreed it “will not sell, transfer, assign, pledge, hypothecate or otherwise dispose of” the shares until the earlier of two years from closing or a termination of the commercial arrangements by Binance under specified conditions, subject to customary exceptions for affiliate transfers.
Binance keeps the right to vote the shares throughout the lockup. The unregistered placement also blocks resale unless the shares are later registered or an exemption applies.
Circle’s Class A stock closed Monday at $94.49, up 2.95% on the day, before trading near $95.76 in Tuesday premarket action, according to Yahoo Finance. Circle’s market capitalization stood near $25.8 billion at the time of the deal.
BREAKING: @Binance buys $100M in @Circle shares as part of a five-year $USDC promotion deal, receiving 1.24M Class A shares at $80.84 each in a private placement with a two-year lock-up on the stake. pic.twitter.com/LjALWoKbY9
— CoinDesk (@CoinDesk) September 22, 2026
A Wider USDC Promotion Deal
The share purchase closed alongside an expanded version of the companies’ existing USDC partnership. Circle agreed to calculate a monthly incentive fee as a percentage of USDC balances held through its Modular Smart Contract Wallet and pay that fee to Binance. In return, Binance will run promotional activities for USDC across its platform for five years.
The arrangement supersedes agreements signed in November 2024 and August 2025. Either party can end the five-year partnership early if specified events occur, though the exact triggers are not public. Circle’s subsidiaries, rather than the parent company, signed the commercial agreements.
USDC currently ranks as the sixth largest crypto asset by market value, at roughly $74.6 billion, per Yahoo Finance market data. The stablecoin already trades on Binance under the original tie-up, announced in December 2024 when Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire and Binance CEO Richard Teng unveiled a strategic partnership at Abu Dhabi Finance Week. Circle has also kept expanding USDC’s reach across other chains.
Competing Exchange Stablecoin Deals
Exchanges routinely pay for stablecoin placement, a dynamic visible across broader crypto exchange trading volume, but Circle’s move to pair equity with a revenue-linked fee stands out.
- Coinbase holds an equity stake in Circle and splits USDC reserve revenue with the issuer under a long running partnership.
- Kraken has built out stablecoin-linked payment tools, including deposit features connecting multiple exchanges.
- OKX continues expanding USDT and USDC trading pairs across its app-based markets.
- KuCoin sells bulk USDT and USDC gift cards aimed at retail stablecoin demand.
- Tether, USDC’s chief rival, reported strong second-quarter 2026 profit alongside continued USDT supply growth.
The Bottom Line
The deal turns Binance from a stablecoin distribution partner into a Circle shareholder with a direct financial stake in USDC’s growth. A monthly incentive fee tied to wallet balances gives Binance a recurring reason to keep pushing USDC volume rather than treating the stablecoin as one option among several on its platform.
The two-year lockup limits how quickly Binance can exit the position, signaling the arrangement is meant to outlast a single market cycle. Pricing the placement 14% below market value suggests Circle weighed the promotional reach and fee structure as worth more than a full-price share sale, a trade other stablecoin issuers may watch as they negotiate their own exchange partnerships.
