Circle Prices IPO at $26 – The USDC Math

Circle priced its IPO at $26, valuing the company at $5.5B – and the USDC math is the most interesting part.

Circle’s S-1 disclosed a USDC reserve composition: 78% short-duration treasuries, 22% cash. At current yields that translates to ~$1.7B annualized in interest income against ~$280M in operating expense. The Coinbase rev-share takes a meaningful slice, but the residual is durable cash flow.

What the lock-up implies

The 180-day lock-up on insider shares concentrates supply pressure into Q4 2026. Float is tight; price discovery will be choppy until then.

EsportForge’s view: this is the cleanest “stablecoin issuer” public comparable. Use it as the benchmark for the wave of issuers that file behind Circle.