Feb 17 (Reuters) – Cryptocurrency operator Circle Web Monetary mentioned on Thursday it was valued at $9 billion below new deal phrases with Harmony Acquisition Corp (CND.N), a blank-check agency backed by former Barclays boss Bob Diamond.
The Boston-based firm mentioned it had terminated an earlier merger settlement with Harmony, which had valued Circle at $4.5 billion. read more
Shares of Harmony, a particular function acquisition firm (SPAC), have been down practically 3% at $10.20 in premarket buying and selling.
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Circle mentioned it had amended the deal phrases as its monetary outlook and market share had improved, particularly in USD Coin (USDC), a stablecoin cryptocurrency whose worth is immediately pegged to the U.S. greenback.
The corporate is the principal operator of USDC, which has an almost $52.4 billion market capitalization based on crypto knowledge supplier CoinGecko.
USDC’s circulation has greater than doubled because the authentic deal was introduced, Circle mentioned.
Stablecoins have soared in reputation as they provide extra worth stability in contrast with extra mainstream friends like bitcoin and ether which have seen wild worth swings up to now yr.
Circle’s new deal is an outlier within the broader SPAC market, which has seen a number of proposed mergers collapse in current weeks as a consequence of unfavorable market circumstances and waning investor sentiment.
SPACs are shell corporations that increase cash in an preliminary public providing, to merge with a personal firm and take it public. Harmony raised $276 million in its IPO in December 2020.
The deal is anticipated to be accomplished by the tip of the yr, however might be prolonged to Jan. 31, 2023, below sure circumstances, Circle mentioned.
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Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Modifying by Ramakrishnan M.
Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.