Circle’s SPAC Plan Halted by SEC, Now Exploring Other Options

• Crypto payments company Circle had plans to go public via a SPAC deal, but the SEC did not sign off on it.
• The company had announced plans to go public in July 2021, with a valuation of $4.5 billion, which doubled in February.
• Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said that the firm did not complete the SEC’s „qualification in time.“

Crypto payments company Circle had big plans to go public through a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) deal, but they were derailed when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) did not sign off on it. The company had announced plans to go public in July 2021, with a valuation of $4.5 billion, which subsequently doubled in February.

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire took to Twitter in early December to explain that his firm did not complete the SEC’s „qualification in time“ to facilitate the move. The SEC has yet to comment on the matter.

The news of Circle going public had sent ripples through the crypto market, as the company is one of the leading firms in the payments and digital asset space. Circle is the company behind USDC, the world’s largest stablecoin, and its acquisition of SeedInvest in 2018 had further cemented its position as a key player in the crypto payments space.

The company had reportedly been in talks with several SPACs for the past few months, but the SEC’s decision to not approve the deal has put an end to those negotiations.

The news of Circle’s plans to go public had initially been met with enthusiasm from investors, but that enthusiasm has now been replaced with disappointment. Many investors had hoped that Circle’s public listing would help to further legitimize the crypto industry, but that may now not happen.

However, Circle has said that it is still committed to its goal of going public and is exploring other options. The company is hopeful that it can find a way to move forward and list on the public markets in the near future.

The SEC’s decision to not approve the SPAC deal has underscored the need for more regulatory clarity in the crypto space. It is now essential that the SEC provides more guidance on how companies in the industry can go public and list on the public markets. Without this, it is likely that many companies will be unable to pursue their plans to go public.