Stablecoin Issuer Circle (CRCL) Soars 235% in Market Debut

The stock of Circle Internet Group, issuer of the world’s second largest stablecoin, is up 235% on its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Circle had priced its initial public offering (IPO) at $31 per share, which was above the expected range of $27 to $28. In early afternoon trading on June 5, the stock was changing hands as high as $103.75 after opening at $69.50 per share on the NYSE.

The stock is trading under the ticker symbol “CRCL.” The company was expected to raise $1.05 billion in the offering of 34 million shares. Originally, Circle had sought to raise $624 million by selling 24 million shares in a price range of $24 to $26 a share.

Circle is the issuer of USD Coin ($USDC-USD), commonly referred to by its ticker symbol “USDC.” It’s currently the second biggest stablecoin in the world, comprising 27% of the market. The largest stablecoin is rival Tether’s USDT ($USDT-USD), which dominates 67% of the stablecoin market.

Closely Watched

Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies whose price is tied to an underlying asset, typically the U.S. dollar or price of gold. That peg to another asset makes stablecoins less volatile than other crypto. Circle’s IPO is being watched closely by the crypto industry for signs of investor appetite when it comes to companies focused on digital assets and blockchain technologies.

In its IPO prospectus, Circle said it earned $156 million in net income in 2024 on $1.68 billion of revenue. Analysts say that Circle is a pure play crypto company. Unlike companies such as Block (XYZ) and Strategy (MSTR), Circle’s entire business is stablecoins and cryptocurrencies. Demand for stablecoins is growing due to new interest from commercial banks and payment firms.

The U.S. Congress is in the process of passing stablecoin legislation, possibly this summer.

Is CRCL Stock a Buy?

It’s too early for there to be any Wall Street ratings on CRCL stock, so we’ll look instead at the three-month performance of Bitcoin. As one can see in the chart below, the price of BTC has risen 18.07% in the last 12 weeks.