PANews reported on April 2nd that according to The Block, stablecoin issuer Circle disclosed in its IPO prospectus filed on Tuesday that it acquired the remaining 50% of unissued equity in "Centre Consortium" from Coinbase in 2023 for $210 million in equity. Centre Consortium was originally a joint venture entity jointly operated by both parties to manage USDC stablecoin.

According to the "Significant Transactions" section of the prospectus: "In August 2023, while signing a cooperation agreement, we acquired the remaining 50% equity of Centre Consortium LLC from Coinbase." The transaction was paid with approximately 8.4 million shares of Circle common stock (with a total fair value of approximately $209.9 million). After completing the acquisition, Centre became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Circle and was dissolved in December 2023, with its net assets transferred to another wholly-owned subsidiary of Circle.

Coinbase stated in its third-quarter 2023 financial report: "We reached a new agreement with Circle that will strengthen our long-term strategic collaboration in the stablecoin ecosystem." However, it did not disclose the equity transaction details at the time. Coinbase clarified to the media that the Circle stock it received was granted by agreement, not purchased with cash.