Circle's $110M Series E Arrives With a Bitmain Partnership Attached
Bitmain led the Series E announced Sept. 22, 2026, lifting Circle's cumulative disclosed funding to $4.3B across nine rounds since 2013.
Circle, the San Francisco-based company that builds and operates the Arc blockchain, has raised $110M in Series E funding, according to the funding tracker AI Funding. The round is dated Sept. 22, 2026, and was led by Bitmain, bringing Circle's cumulative disclosed funding to $4.3B across nine rounds stretching back to October 2013.
Circle's stated business is blockchain infrastructure: it builds and operates the Arc blockchain and associated infrastructure and services for participants in the digital-asset ecosystem, positioning Arc as a platform-level network to support blockchain transactions and interactions across a range of digital-asset use cases.
The database entry describes the Series E as arriving alongside a strategic partnership with Bitmain, shortly before the launch of the USDC stablecoin initiative through Centre. Bitmain is listed as the sole lead investor on the round. The tracker does not disclose a valuation for the Series E or specify how the proceeds will be allocated.
Circle's last reported valuation in the database is $3.0B, attached to a May 13, 2026 token presale. That earlier raise, an undisclosed $222M at the $3.0B valuation, was intended to accelerate development and scaling of the Arc blockchain. The database's summary of that round noted investor confidence in the company's focus on blockchain infrastructure and its ability to expand network operations and support for the Arc platform.
The funding record shows a company that has been continuously capitalized across more than a decade. Circle raised a $440M growth round in May 2021 from institutional and strategic investors to support growth of USDC and its treasury and payments infrastructure, followed by a $400M growth round in April 2022, aimed at continued growth of USDC and related financial infrastructure. Earlier rounds trace a longer arc: a $60M Series D in June 2016 led by IDG Capital Partners to expand in China and broaden its social payments and blockchain-based financial services; a $50M Series C in April 2015 led by Goldman Sachs and IDG Capital Partners to expand its bitcoin payments business; a $17M Series B in March 2014 led by Breyer Capital, Accel, General Catalyst and Oak Investment Partners as it prepared to launch its bitcoin wallet; and a $9M Series A in October 2013 led by Jim Breyer, Accel and General Catalyst.
Across those nine rounds, Circle's investor list includes Accel, General Catalyst, IDG Capital Partners, Bitmain, Goldman Sachs and three others, according to the tracker. The $110M Series E sits well below the nine-figure checks the company took in during the 2021–2022 cycle, but it keeps a strategic investor — Bitmain — at the center of the cap table as Circle continues to build out the Arc network.