Circle founder explains how programmable money will transform finance and trade

Circle, the issuer of the second largest stablecoin USDC, has just filed for listing on the New York Stock Exchange. In the prospectus, the company's founder Jeremy Allaire wrote a letter to potential investors. This letter can better help us understand the operating logic behind USDC.

Jeremy Allaire co-founded Allaire Corporation in the 1990s (the main product is the network development software ColdFusion). The company was acquired by Macromedia in 2001.

Jeremy Allaire co-founded the online video platform Brightcove in 2004 and served as CEO. Brightcove was listed on Nasdaq in 2012.

Jeremy Allaire co-founded Circle with Sean Neville in 2013.

The following is the Chinese translation of the founder's letter in the prospectus:

To understand the vision behind the creation of Circle, we need to review my experience; to talk about our achievements, we need to talk about our business ideas; looking to the future, I would also like to share my views on Circle's listing and Circle's role in the global financial system in the next 10 years.

I am a firm supporter of the Internet

I was lucky enough to own an Apple II computer in the early 1980s. It helped me get in touch with the online world before the Internet. This was not easy at the time. In addition, my parents' views also influenced me: they felt that if people around the world could be connected, the world would definitely change a lot.

I studied political science, philosophy and economics in college. I believe that if free information and free markets can be connected to trade, the world will be more prosperous and stable. It was then, in 1990, that I became fascinated with the Internet, which was not yet so commercialized, with command lines running on decentralized servers and calculating statistical equations.

At that time, I became a staunch supporter of the Internet. I firmly believed that a global network of computers connected by open technical protocols would completely change society and the economy.

In the next 20 years, I devoted myself to building such Internet software platforms and infrastructure. I participated in the founding of two global Internet technology companies in the Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 eras, and both of them were listed.

The power of the Internet to change the world is irreversible, but the process is very tortuous.

Second, the financial crisis (turning point)

In these 20 years, the world experienced the most serious global financial crisis of this century.

In the 1990s and the first 10 years of the 21st century, economic growth and globalization were unstoppable. The Internet played a big role in this. But in 2008, everything collapsed.

As an economics student, I did in-depth research. I was disappointed with the huge financial industry, and I thought we needed a new financial system based on the Internet: open network, open software and global integration. A digital currency with 100% reserve backing can play a key role in promoting it.

It was during this exploration period that I stumbled upon Bitcoin in 2012. Although I don't think Bitcoin is the answer to financial problems, it made me see the revolutionary technological innovation that makes it possible to build an open, Internet-based financial system.

3. The Founding and Vision of Circle

In early 2013, after in-depth research on Bitcoin and blockchain technology, Sean Neville, co-founder of Circle, and I clearly realized that a major innovation of the Internet was being born. It provides a new set of open protocols that will have a disruptive impact on value exchange.

Although it was not possible at the time, we knew that blockchain technology would support the issuance of digital tokens, allow the overlay of smart contracts, and ultimately be able to build higher-level currency protocols. This will be more influential than the network itself, because this will not only change information transmission, but also the entire global economic system.

We envision developing a "Currency HTTP", a protocol for the US dollar and other legal digital currency tokens, which will provide an open and programmable infrastructure to rebuild the global financial system in the manner of the Internet.

For both of us, there are two things that we think clearly.

First, blockchain will outperform traditional finance in terms of scale, speed and efficiency. Therefore, the US dollar protocol on the blockchain can definitely build a new world. In this world, the storage and transmission services of value (legal currency value) can be commercialized. Such services will accelerate the circulation of money and release trillions of dollars from financial accounts to the real economy. This is valuable.

Second, digital currency protocols can be programmed through smart contracts, which means that the utility of money will undergo a huge transformation. New "currency modules" will emerge, which can change the operation of finance, trade, commerce and capital markets.

IV. Vision and Implementation

As a pioneer in the digital asset and blockchain industry, I believe Circle can stand out among many companies. I believe our mission is valuable (driving global economic growth through frictionless value exchange). We know that mission alone is not enough, and we need to take a different approach from those who focus on cryptocurrency speculation.

In the development of Circle, we have several key principles:

(1) It is very important to proactively engage with regulators. We have been proactively engaging with regulators and policymakers around the world. As an opportunity to interact with regulators and to help governments understand these complex new technologies, we have testified before legislatures in the United States and other countries. In addition, we frequently communicate and interact with regulators and policymakers.

(2) Adopt a platform-first technology framework. When building the digital currency technology stack, we considered the open nature of the platform and allowed partners to use the platform. This promoted the creation and success of USDC and also enabled the advancement of Circle platform services.

(3) Follow the current market situation. The pace of technology and the market does not always match. What technology evangelists build may not be consistent with the pace of mainstream demand. Therefore, we must take a small step and run fast strategy, act cautiously, achieve immediate success, but always focus on long-term goals.

(4) Use compliance as a competitive advantage. Our vision is to integrate the existing financial system with the new Internet financial system, which means that cryptocurrency is a technology that can connect these two worlds. To achieve this, we must continue to make substantial investments in compliance. This can both gain regulatory support and enhance our attractiveness to potential partners and customers.

Overall, these principles enabled Circle to move flexibly and quickly in the early stages of the market, and ultimately enabled us to launch USDC in 2018. In our seventh year, we achieved our goal of creating smart contracts for the US dollar on the Internet. Although we have encountered challenges in the past and will continue to face new challenges in the future, I believe that Circle will be in a key position in the infrastructure of the new Internet financial system.

V. What We Have Achieved

Today, Circle is a globally renowned and respected company known for its integrity and transparency. We are both an advocate and a leader in the Internet financial system.

Since the launch of the stablecoin USDC in 2018, as of March 31, 2025, the cumulative transactions of USDC have exceeded $25 trillion, of which nearly $6 trillion were traded in the first quarter of 2025 alone.

As of May 23, 2025, there are more than $61 billion in USDC in circulation, and millions of end users use USDC for payment, settlement, and as a store of value for digital dollars.

Thousands of companies and developers have integrated with USDC, forming a thriving ecosystem. Major payment companies, enterprise technology companies, consumer Internet applications, financial technology ("FinTech") companies, and digital asset companies use Circle's technology to build solutions based on USDC.

The strength of USDC is based on strong infrastructure and liquidity. From January 1, 2021 to March 31, 2025, Circle minted $558 billion+ of USDC and redeemed $502 billion+ of USDC (these redemptions always maintain a 1:1 ratio with the US dollar).

We have faced challenges. For example, in 2023, USDC experienced a period of declining circulation, which was related to a variety of factors. These included rising short-term interest rates in the United States, falling digital asset prices (and correspondingly falling leverage in digital asset trading), and the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in March 2023 (where some of USDC's US dollar reserves were held), which caused a temporary disconnect in the secondary market price of USDC, which led to some market share flowing to competitors.

We will undoubtedly face challenges in the future. However, the growth of USDC and the Circle stablecoin network has shown resilience and enabled us to become a strong and prosperous business in a short period of time.

Our revenue grew from $15.4 million in 2020 to $84.9 million in 2021, $772 million in 2022, $1.5 billion in 2023, and $1.7 billion in 2024.

In 2024, we reported net income of $155.7 million and adjusted EBITDA of $284.9 million. In the first quarter of 2025, we reported net income of $64.8 million and adjusted EBITDA of $122.4 million.

As of March 31, 2025, we had a total of $1.1 billion in liquid assets, including $848.6 million in cash and cash equivalents and $274.5 million in stablecoin emergency reserves.

During this period, we have also built a global team covering more than a dozen countries and 35 U.S. states. The team has backgrounds in the Internet, technology and finance, and they have the skills to realize our vision.

Circle is a product and technology-oriented company. We have and will continue to invest heavily in product and technology development and create long-term value in the market.

Sixth, Becoming a Public Company

Circle has long been in the spotlight. The market is very concerned about an infrastructure company that operates a digital dollar. Therefore, Circle must operate in a highly transparent manner while being regulated by government agencies in the United States and around the world. As a global institution, we take our role and responsibility as a custodian of financial assets very seriously.

For Circle, listing on the New York Stock Exchange is our way to achieve maximum transparency and responsibility. We are building infrastructure that is critical to the financial system, and we hope to work with leading companies and governments around the world to shape and build this new Internet financial system. After listing, we must apply the NYSE's strict disclosure, governance and other requirements, which will strengthen our commitment to transparency and responsibility.

Most importantly, listing is the crossroads of the development of Circle and the Internet financial system. The opportunities we see must be based on a combination of technical readiness, regulatory clarity and market demand. It is complex and occurs at the intersection of highly innovative technology and financial services. Although we are proud and confident in our capabilities, our future (like our past) is bound to be full of uncertainty and risks. We describe these risks in this prospectus, please read them carefully.

Becoming a public company enables us to invite the public to embark on this journey with us.

VII. Long-term approach and philosophy

If you choose to become an investor in Circle, it is very important to understand our philosophy.

We are working towards a very long-term goal. We are creating a new Internet platform company that will be built on the Internet financial system. We believe that we are still in the very early stages of the development of this new financial system.

We believe that we have just entered the prologue and there are huge growth opportunities ahead. This means that we must invest heavily in areas with significant long-term growth potential in the foreseeable future to achieve growth.

Most importantly, we will continue to build and lead the company based on our mission and values.

Eight, we are different

We often say that Circle is different. If you ask our investors, employees, and even the market as a whole, you will get this answer. We cannot be simply categorized.

Some people say we are like a payment company, others say we are like a financial institution, and others say we are like a consumer Internet or platform software company. The reality is that we are somewhat similar to all of these types of companies.

This is what makes us different.

We are building an Internet platform company: the Circle stablecoin network provides consumers and businesses with services on the Internet, and provides developers with a set of software protocols so that they can build their own small business ecosystems.

At the same time, we are building a strong financial market infrastructure in an ever-changing regulatory environment. We are proud to embrace regulation, we comply with regulations, and actively interact with regulators to promote the design of appropriate regulations for the industry.

IX. This is an adventure

If you join us as an investor, I would like to share with you something that I share with every employee.

Given the complexity of the ecosystem we are in: innovative technologies are intertwined with highly regulated traditional financial services, building a new Internet financial system, creating major new infrastructure for currency and economic activities, shaping and responding to policies, and operating these infrastructures in a complex global macroeconomic environment, what we do is not easy. There are challenges every day, but it is also an exciting financial and technological adventure.

We have a clear vision of what the future Internet financial system can bring to the world. If we achieve this vision, we believe that Circle investors will be rewarded and you will also contribute to human progress.

I hope you can join us on this adventure!