Ripple Crypto’s $5B Offer for Circle Crypto Rejected: What Is Circle Crypto?

May 1, 2025 Adam Forsyth

Ripple offers $5 billion to buy Circle. USDC issuer rejects the proposal. What’s next for Ripple and XRP crypto? Will XRPUSDT rise, and will Circle agree to an improved offer? Insiders claim the Ripple bid was too low and didn’t factor Circle’s growth potential.

To gauge how quickly tokenization is being adopted, look at how fast fiat is brought onchain. The first to achieve major success was USDT by Tether Holdings, now the largest stablecoin with over $148 billion in market cap. USDT ranks as the third-largest crypto project, trailing only Bitcoin and Ethereum, surpassing even Solana, home to some of the best meme coin ICOs.

According to Larry Fink of BlackRock, tokenization is projected to exceed a trillion dollars by 2030. This is a massive opportunity, and Ripple, the private company behind XRP and its On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) platform, aims to become a major player.

Ripple Offers $5 Billion To Buy Circle, Proposal Rejected

After launching RLUSD, a stablecoin pegged to the USD and backed primarily by U.S. Treasuries, Ripple is reportedly seeking to expand its footprint.

Yesterday, reports emerged that Ripple offered $5 billion to acquire Circle, the issuer of USDC, but the proposal was quickly rejected.

Currently, Circle is the second-largest stablecoin issuer, trailing Tether Holdings. It maintains a strong presence in the United States and Europe, where USDT recently exited due to MiCA regulations.

Unlike Tether, which has not released an audit from a top-four firm, Circle complies with laws and is registered with the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). For transparency, Circle publishes monthly reserve attestations conducted by Grant Thornton.

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What Is Circle And USDC? Why Was The Deal Rejected?

Insiders say the offer was rejected because it undervalued Circle’s market position and growth potential, which makes sense. Circle has been growing, with USDC expanding rapidly over the years.

In 2025, USDC plays an integral part in DeFi, powering trading, lending, and yield farming across blockchains like Ethereum and Solana.

Circle has also forged partnerships with major financial institutions like Visa and Mastercard, while BlackRock has chosen USDC as its preferred stablecoin for digital payments and remittances.

The stablecoin issuer is also preparing for an NYSE listing in the coming months.

Focus On XRP Crypto: Which Way Next?

It’s unclear whether Ripple will submit an improved offer. If Circle accepts, RLUSD could absorb USDC’s market cap and leverage Circle’s DeFi integrations and top-tier partners.

WOW!

RIPPLE CTO DAVID SCHWARTZ ABOUT ‚RLUSD‘ STABLECOIN:

“RLUSD WON‘T REPLACE XRP. #XRP HAS A UNIQUE ROLE ON THE DEX AS A BRIDGE ASSET!” pic.twitter.com/UbCAwkAlK4

— 𝓐𝓶𝓮𝓵𝓲𝓮 (@_Crypto_Barbie) December 11, 2024

This could propel the XRP crypto price, possibly pushing it above $3.50 and $10 by the end of the year. If Ripple acquires Circle, RLUSD, which feeds XRP, could drive demand higher.

(XRPUSDT)

Conversely, some believe the deal could diminish the role of XRP as a payment token.

Despite its features and a ruling that XRP is not a security, placing it in the same category as Bitcoin, which the SEC recognized as a commodity, XRP has struggled to gain traction. Only a few banks and payment processors use ODL in remittance since most of them prefer SWIFT.

Additionally, more global remittance payments are now routed through stablecoins, not XRP, and even some of the best cryptos to buy, like Litecoin or Stellar.

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