Circle Acquires Core IBM Blockchain Patent Assets

Circle Internet Group announced the acquisition of core assets from IBM's blockchain patent portfolio, which includes more than 680 patent families and nearly 1,000 granted patents across blockchain infrastructure, banking, financial services, insurance, enterprise infrastructure, supply chain verification, and secure cloud operations. According to Foresight News, Circle said the purchase makes it the U.S. company with the largest blockchain patent holdings. The expanded intellectual property portfolio will support infrastructure for USDC, Circle Payments Network, Arc, and other on-chain products, as well as agentic finance tools. Circle and IBM also plan to explore additional business cooperation opportunities.