Binance invested $100 million in Circle through a private placement and renewed a five-year commercial agreement to expand USDC distribution across its platform, particularly in emerging markets. The exchange bought 1,237,011 Class A shares at $80.84 each, with the transaction closing on Sept. 17, while Circle disclosed the investment and renewed partnership on Sept. 22. Under the agreement, Circle will pay Binance monthly incentives based on qualifying USDC balances held through its Modular Smart Contract Wallet infrastructure, and Binance will promote USDC on its platform. The deal replaces agreements signed in November 2024 and August 2025 and builds on a relationship that helped increase Binance's USDC spot markets from 140 to 329. Kaiko data cited by CoinDesk showed Binance handling roughly $5 billion to $10 billion of daily USDC spot trading during 2026. USDC's market capitalization reached about $75.3 billion on Sept. 23, compared with approximately $183.8 billion for Tether's USDT on Sept. 26. Analysts said the arrangement strengthens Circle's distribution and competitive position but is unlikely to quickly displace USDT's established liquidity and trading use. Circle is also expanding USDC infrastructure through its Arc blockchain, an OKX partnership, the planned $400 million stock acquisition of Tazapay and the Circle Payments Network.