Summary
- Circle said it is expanding its infrastructure by acquiring IBM's blockchain patent portfolio.
- The deal makes Circle the largest holder of blockchain patents in the US, and the company plans to use them for USDC and the Circle Payments Network.
- Circle said it will use the acquired intellectual property (IP) to develop on-chain financial services including Arc and AI-based agentic finance tools, while also exploring additional cooperation with IBM.
Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, is expanding its infrastructure footprint by acquiring IBM's blockchain patent portfolio.
Circle said July 27 that it had acquired IBM's blockchain patent assets. The deal includes more than 680 patent families worldwide and about 1,000 granted patents.
The portfolio covers core blockchain technologies as well as banking, financial services and insurance, enterprise infrastructure, supply-chain verification and secure cloud operations.
Circle said the acquisition makes it the largest holder of blockchain patents in the US. The company plans to use the intellectual property to develop on-chain financial services tied to USDC, the Circle Payments Network, its enterprise blockchain platform Arc and AI-based agentic finance tools.
Circle and IBM also plan to explore additional business partnerships following the deal. "Intellectual property is an important part of expanding on-chain infrastructure and advancing the company's mission," Sarah Wilson, Circle's chief legal officer, said. She added that IBM has long been a leader in technology innovation and that the acquisition will strengthen Circle's ability to build global internet-based financial infrastructure.
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