Binance deal gives Circle a boost in stablecoin race with Tether, analysts say

Binance invested $100 million in Circle CRCL $87.37 · Market Closed shares and signed a new five-year commercial agreement to promote and integrate USDC across its platform. The arrangement gives Binance a direct stake in Circle’s growth while giving Circle wider distribution through one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges.

“This optimizes the relationship and further aligns Binance's interests with Circle's, echoing Circle-Coinbase's distributor-shareholder model,” Clear Street analyst Owen Lau told CoinDesk.

The companies’ first partnership, announced in December 2024, has already changed how USDC trades on Binance.

The exchange offered 140 USDC-quoted spot markets when the partnership began. It now has 329, according to Kaiko. That compares with a much slower increase from 39 markets in 2021 to 140 by late 2024.

Monthly USDC trading volume on Binance has also roughly doubled, rising from the $20 billion-$40 billion range before the partnership to consistently above $80 billion.