Japan’s SBI says it invested $50 million in Circle during IPO

Japanese financial services group SBI Group stated it invested $50 million in stablecoin issuer Circle during the company’s upsized initial public offering (IPO) debut on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) last week. The allocation was split equally between SBI Holdings and its subsidiary SBI Shinsei Bank, according to a Monday announcement.According to a Nikkei report, SBI purchased 5% of 34 million shares offered by Circle during its public offering.In March, SBI and Circle announced the country’s first regulated access to USDC via the licensed SBI VC Trade crypto exchange, following the revision of stablecoin registration requirements. The firms also formed a joint venture, Circle SBI KK Japan, as part of their strategic alliance established in 2023 to accelerate USDC usage among Japanese corporates and consumers.SBI’s investment comes after the stablecoin issuer reportedly raised around $1.1 billion from the sale of 34 million shares in its New York IPO on June 4, including 4.48 million shares worth $373.4 million purchased by Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest.Circle’s shares, trading under the ticker CRCL, have surged nearly 300% from the initial IPO price of $31 per share. CRCL closed at $115 on Monday and rose to $118 in pre-market trading on Tuesday, valuing the company at approximately $22 billion, according to data from Yahoo Finance. ProShares and Bitwise have filed for CRCL-based exchange-traded funds following the stock's early success.Circle remains the only major stablecoin issuer publicly listed in the U.S. Its primary rival, Tether (USDT), operates offshore and currently dominates the stablecoin market with over $156 billion in market capitalization, compared to USDC’s roughly $60 billion, according to The Block's data.Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.