Circle IBM blockchain patents deal makes USDC issuer a top IP holder

Circle’s IBM blockchain patents deal gives the USDC issuer one of the biggest intellectual-property arsenals in crypto, and it could matter for investors watching stablecoins move deeper into payments. Circle said it acquired IBM’s blockchain patent portfolio, adding more than 680 patent families and nearly 1,000 issued patents worldwide; the companies did not disclose financial terms.

The purchase moves Circle from a small patent footprint to the top tier of U.S. blockchain IP. Patent analytics firm PatSnap credited IBM with 790 U.S. blockchain patents by December 2025, ahead of Bank of America at about 200, according to the data cited. Circle received its first patent in December 2023 for parallel blockchain data processing, a method for checking multiple groups of transactions at the same time.

A patent is a legal right that lets its owner control who can use a specific invention and under what terms. In blockchain, that can cover methods for processing transactions, securing data, or connecting digital ledgers to financial systems.

Why did Circle buy IBM blockchain patents?

Circle said the portfolio covers core blockchain technology as well as banking, financial services, insurance, enterprise infrastructure, supply-chain verification and secure cloud operations. The company said the added intellectual property supports its effort to build internet-based financial infrastructure across USDC, Circle Payments Network, Arc and onchain products.

USDC is Circle’s dollar-pegged stablecoin, a type of cryptocurrency designed to track the value of the U.S. dollar one-for-one. Stablecoins are often used for crypto trading, cross-border transfers and digital payments because they move on blockchain networks while aiming to avoid the price swings common in tokens such as Bitcoin and Ether.

Circle also pointed to Arc, its payment-focused blockchain for institutional finance, and “agentic” financial tools. In this context, agentic tools are AI-powered software systems that can carry out financial tasks without a human approving each individual step.

Sarah Wilson, Circle’s general counsel and corporate secretary, said in the company’s announcement that intellectual property is important to the company’s mission and to wider adoption of onchain infrastructure. She said IBM’s history in technology innovation made the portfolio a fit for Circle’s plans in internet-native finance.

What the patent portfolio could change for Circle

Circle had already joined the LOT Network, a group that aims to protect members from patent-troll litigation. Patent trolls are companies that acquire patents mainly to demand licensing payments or settlements rather than to build products.

With the IBM portfolio, Circle now has patents it could use defensively, by protecting its own products, or more assertively, by licensing or enforcing rights against others. Circle has not said whether it plans to pursue offensive patent actions.

The deal also comes as IBM is linked to another dollar-stablecoin effort. IBM is a confirmed partner in Open Standard, the consortium behind Open USD, a stablecoin that launched June 30 with more than 140 backers, including Visa, Mastercard, Google, BlackRock, Stripe and Coinbase.

Open USD distributes reserve income to partner distributors rather than retaining it, according to the consortium’s described model. That puts IBM’s new Circle transaction alongside its role in a separate stablecoin project operating in the same broad market as USDC.

Circle’s listed shares, traded under the ticker CRCL, rose 2.57% on Monday after the announcement.

This story draws on original reporting from Decrypt.