IBM portfolio acquisition makes Circle the largest US blockchain patent holder

Circle acquired fundamental assets from IBM's blockchain patent portfolio in a deal the stablecoin issuer says makes it the largest blockchain patent holder in the United States.

The portfolio comprises more than 680 patent families and nearly 1,000 issued patents worldwide, spanning foundational blockchain technology, banking, financial services, insurance, enterprise infrastructure, supply chain verification, and secure cloud operations, according to Circle’s statement.

Circle (CRCL) said the expanded intellectual property position supports its work building an internet financial system, including the USDC stablecoin, the Circle Payments Network, its Arc blockchain, and a growing set of onchain products and agentic financial tools.

Circle and IBM plan to explore additional commercial opportunities, the company added. The deal's financial terms were not disclosed.

Sarah Wilson, Circle's general counsel and corporate secretary, said intellectual property is critical to advancing the company's mission and expanding adoption of onchain infrastructure. She added that IBM has been a pioneer in technological innovation and that the acquisition expands Circle's ability to advance the infrastructure behind internet-native finance.

Circle operates the world's largest stablecoin network anchored by (USDC), alongside the Circle Payments Network for global money movement and Arc, an enterprise blockchain it is positioning as an economic operating system for the internet.

According to The Block’s data, USDC boasted a supply of over $74 billion as of July 27. CRCL shares rose over 5% following the IBM deal, according to The Block's crypto equities page.

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