Circle has acquired nearly 1,000 blockchain patents from IBM, making it the largest blockchain patent holder in the U.S.

Stablecoin issuer Circle announced it has acquired nearly 1,000 licensed blockchain-related patents from IBM, a deal that will make Circle one of the largest blockchain patent holders in the U.S. The acquisition covers over 680 patent families spanning blockchain technology, banking, financial services, insurance, enterprise infrastructure, supply chain verification, and cloud security. Details including the transaction value and whether IBM retains related patent licenses have not been disclosed. Circle said the intellectual property assets will support the development of USDC, Circle Payments Network, the Arc blockchain, and financial tools for AI agents. The two parties also plan to further explore business collaboration opportunities. Sarah Wilson, Circle’s general counsel, noted that intellectual property is critical to advancing on-chain infrastructure development and scaling its applications. IBM has long ranked among the top blockchain patent holders in the U.S. Data from patent analytics firm PatSnap shows that as of the end of 2025, IBM held around 790 blockchain patents. Circle obtained its first blockchain patent in December 2023 and had previously joined the LOT Network to mitigate patent litigation risks. Following this acquisition, Circle has further strengthened its technical reserves in the blockchain infrastructure sector.