Circle buys IBM blockchain patent portfolio

Circle announced on Monday that it purchased more than 680 patent families and nearly 1,000 issued patents from IBM, making it the largest holder of blockchain patents in the United States.

The portfolio includes patents covering blockchain protocols and systems, banking workflows, enterprise infrastructure, supply chain verification and secure cloud operations.

Circle said the expanded intellectual property will support development of USDC, the Circle Payments Network, Arc and a suite of onchain financial services and AI-powered tools. The company added it will explore additional commercial arrangements with IBM. Financial terms were not disclosed.

In a statement, Circle quoted Sarah Wilson, the company’s general counsel and corporate secretary: “Intellectual property plays a key role in advancing the company’s mission to expand adoption of onchain financial infrastructure.” The statement said IBM’s history of technological innovation would help Circle build infrastructure for global, internet-native finance.

The patents were developed during IBM’s years of blockchain research. IBM had developed enterprise blockchain solutions for banking, trade finance and supply chain applications over the past decade.

Circle has been expanding beyond stablecoins by adding payments infrastructure, launching enterprise blockchain products and seeking regulatory approvals to grow its digital financial services business. The company described the acquisition as part of that broader strategy to develop onchain rails and tools for institutional and consumer finance.

Shares of Circle rose 4.84% to $65.38 in Monday trading, with about 2.54 million shares changing hands. The daily Relative Strength Index registered at 45.01.

Circle did not provide a timetable for integrating the patents into specific products or say whether any patents will be licensed to third parties beyond possible collaborations with IBM.