May 27 (Reuters) - Circle Internet said on Tuesday it was targeting a valuation of up to $6.71 billion on a fully diluted basis in its New York initial public offering, as the stablecoin giant looks to tap into growing optimism around cryptocurrency.
U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has embraced cryptocurrencies and pledged a more "rational" approach to digital asset regulations, encouraging companies from the industry to go public.
New York-based Circle and some existing investors are looking to raise up to $624 million by offering 24 million shares priced between $24 and $26 apiece.
Cathie Wood's ARK Investment Management has indicated its intention to buy up to $150 million shares of Circle in the IPO.
Circle is offering 9.6 million shares in the offering, while selling shareholders, including venture capital firms Accel and General Catalyst, are parting ways with 14.4 million shares.
Founded in 2013, Circle is the principal operator of stablecoin USDC, which has a market capitalization of over $60 billion, according to crypto market tracker CoinGecko.
Stablecoins are crypto tokens whose value is pegged to a stable asset to protect from wild volatility. In the case of the USDC, the value was pegged to the U.S. dollar.
Circle's flotation would be one of the biggest crypto listings since Coinbase Global's (COIN.O), stock market debut in 2021.
Mike Novogratz's crypto investment company Galaxy Digital (GLXY.O), debuted on the Nasdaq earlier this month.
Circle had previously attempted to go public through a $9 billion blank-check deal with Bob Diamond-backed SPAC, but the deal fell apart in late 2022.
Circle, which has tapped 15 banks for the IPO, will list on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "CRCL".
J.P. Morgan, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs are the lead underwriters for the offering.
Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil and Pritam Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli
