Binance spent $100 million buying a stake in Circle, the company behind the USDC stablecoin, and signed a new five-year commercial agreement with it on the same day. CoinDesk reported the deal on Tuesday, September 22, citing the transaction documents.
Money in this story flows both ways at once. Binance buys Circle shares, while Circle will pay Binance a monthly fee for promoting USDC on its platform.
The terms of the share deal
Circle sold Binance 1.24 million shares at $80.84 each. The private placement closed on September 17, 2026. The shares were sold through an unregistered private placement, so Binance cannot resell them for now without registration or an applicable exemption. This format gives both sides flexibility. There is no need to wait for SEC registration, and the deal closes within days of an agreement.
Under the terms, Binance committed not to sell these shares for two years, though it keeps voting rights over them. An exception applies if Binance itself terminates the commercial part of the partnership under specified circumstances.
A monthly fee for USDC held in Binance wallets
Alongside the share deal, the companies signed a new five-year commercial arrangement. Circle will pay Binance a monthly fee tied to the volume of USDC held through the exchange's wallet infrastructure.
The setup resembles a familiar fintech model, paying for distribution. The stablecoin issuer buys access to the market's largest user base, and the exchange gets steady revenue that has nothing to do with trading fees.
This is already the third deal between Circle and Binance
The new arrangement replaces earlier USDC agreements between the two companies from November 2024 and August 2025. Either side can end the five-year contract early if the events specified in the documents occur.
What both companies said
Richard Teng, co-CEO of Binance, commented on the deal in a statement to CoinDesk.
"Our $100 million investment and five-year commitment represent long-duration conviction. We are helping to build a more inclusive, transparent, and compliant digital economy. A stable, trusted digital dollar should not be a privilege. It should be available to anyone with a phone. That's the future this partnership is designed to deliver."
- Richard Teng, co-CEO of Binance, in a statement to CoinDesk
Jeremy Allaire, Circle's co-founder, chairman and CEO, called Binance "the most widely used wallet for dollar stablecoins" and added that the partnership could expand access to dollar-based financial services worldwide.
The fight for exchange loyalty
Tether's USDT still dominates most crypto exchanges, including Ukraine's P2P market, where it remains the main tool for converting into hryvnia. The Binance deal is Circle's attempt to shift that balance through financial incentives rather than organic demand.
Ukraine's market is gradually feeling this trend too. Some local exchangers already list USDC pairs alongside the usual USDT, and USDC's growing presence on the world's largest exchange could speed that up.
For Circle, a deal like this costs money every month, but in exchange it secures a distribution channel reaching millions of Binance users. For Binance, it is extra revenue that does not depend on swings in trading volume.
Why this matters for the stablecoin market
Distribution deals like this are becoming a new form of competition among stablecoin issuers: instead of chasing new integrations alone, companies now pay exchanges directly for priority placement. USDC remains the world's second-largest stablecoin by market cap behind USDT, and Circle has spent years trying to close that gap. Paying the biggest exchanges directly to promote its own token is a sign that organic growth alone is not enough anymore.
Deals like this became possible after the US passed the GENIUS Act, a federal law that set clear reserve and reporting rules for dollar stablecoin issuers. That regulatory clarity let Circle plan five-year contracts instead of working through short-term arrangements as before.
Similar arrangements with other major platforms could be the next logical step if the model proves profitable for both sides. A spot at the top of the stablecoin rankings is becoming less about technology and more about the size of the promotion budget.
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