In a surprising revelation, Ryan Y Yi, a former member of Coinbase Ventures, the investment arm of the U.S.’s largest crypto exchange, Coinbase, has hinted at the possibility of the U.S.- based crypto exchange acquiring Circle, the USDC stablecoin issuer. In an X post, Yi stated that the strategic move would allow Coinbase to capitalize on USDC’s growing importance.
According to Yi, Coinbase’s share of USDC circulation has experienced significant growth. As of Q1 2025, Coinbase’s USDC shares had reached around 23% of the stablecoin’s total supply, reflecting rapid growth. Additionally, USDC has become Coinbase’s second-largest source of revenue. Hence, Yi argued that acquiring the Circle outfit would be strategic and allow the crypto exchange to capture USDC-related revenue fully.
Yi clarified Coinbase’s current position per revenue from its USDC shares, explaining that the exchange only earns full reserve income on on-platform USDC and splits off-platform income 50/50 with Circle despite holding four times more USDC. Meanwhile, Coinbase plays a significant role in the adoption of USDC.
Revenue Gains Drive Rumors
Considering Coinbase’s current status per USDC shares, the revenue-sharing model limits the crypto exchange’s ability to scale its customer and developer-facing products. According to Yi, the current situation does not bestow protocol-level control on Coinbase. Therefore, he believes acquiring Circle will eliminate that constraint.
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Additionally, Yi added that by acquiring Circle, Coinbase would get full revenue attribution on USDC and governance over the USDC protocol. It will also allow multichain integrations and strategic flexibility across key products like Coinbase Wallet and Base.
Further, the former Coinbase Ventures member cited both companies’ understanding of the long-term value of such a development and highlighted the synergetic potential involved despite both parties not reaching any specific deal terms yet. Meanwhile, Circle has denied reports of ongoing acquisition talks with Coinbase and Ripple, describing them as baseless rumors.
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