OMG! Circle's IPO: More Shares From Insiders Than The Company?! Is This The New Normal?!

Wait What's Going On?!

Okay dolls lemme break this down for you because even *I* had to read this twice. Circle the company behind USDC—which BTW is like the Birkin bag of stablecoins—is going public. But here's the plot twist: the *existing* shareholders are selling more shares than the *company* itself. Like is this some kind of 'Keeping Up With the Kardashians' level drama?! Usually in a tech IPO it's all about the company but apparently Circle is doing things differently. They're selling 9.6 million shares but the *insiders* are offloading 14.4 million. Can you even?

Billionaire Exit Strategy: Desperate Times Desperate Measures?!

Sources told me that after the market peaked in 2021 the venture capital firms are looking for an exit. It's giving major 'I need to pay my bills' vibes. I mean even *I* know that private investors are DESPERATE for exits. Apparently Silicon Valley's tech investors are in dire need of liquidity. Is this a sign of a 'liquidity drought' due to the continuous persistent issues around exit pathways and investor behavior? The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) seems to think so.

CEO Realness: Even Jeremy Allaire Is Selling?!

Okay so even Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire is selling about 8% of his stake. And Sean Neville a co founder is offloading 11%. Like are they all getting new yachts or something? Kidding! (Mostly.) Venture firms like Accel and General Catalyst are also jumping on the selling bandwagon each selling about 10% of their stock. I mean I get it everyone needs to secure the bag but still! Seems suss...

The Big Boys Holding On! Skin in the Game!

But hold up before you start thinking it's all doom and gloom experts say the *big* investors are still holding enough to show they believe in the company. So it's not like they're completely jumping ship. As Lise Buyer said 'The big guys are holding enough so they still have skin in the game so that shouldn't alarm investors.' Phew! That's a relief. Otherwise I'd start thinking something serious is up with circle.

Why Is This So Unusual?!

Like usually in IPOs the percentage of shares coming from investors is way below half. Think about Reddit – insiders sold only 31% of the shares. And Airbnb back in 2020? A measly 3%. But Circle is out here breaking all the rules! Is this a new trend? Are we going to see more companies doing this? Only time will tell but one thing's for sure: it's definitely something to watch.

Float Like A Butterfly Sell Like An Insider

Apparently Circle needs these insider sales to make sure there's enough 'float' for trading. I guess it's like when I need to contour my face—you need the right amount of product to make it work! So if Circle wasn't including investors they'd be offering less than 5% of their outstanding shares to the public. Now *that* would be a problem.