Original | Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)
Author｜jk
Global leading stablecoin issuer Circle (stock code: CRCL) officially listed on the New York Stock Exchange this Thursday, becoming the first company to successfully IPO in the stablecoin sector. As a leader in the stablecoin space, Circle holds a position similar to Coinbase, being compliant in the U.S. and the first to go public. This listing has naturally attracted significant attention from traditional finance and Web3 investors and is seen as an important milestone for the comprehensive entry of crypto financial infrastructure into mainstream capital markets.
Stock price soared nearly 170% on the first day, market value surpasses $21 billion
In summary, Circle's stock price trend can be described in four words: it has been rising.
Circle publicly issued 34 million shares of common stock at an offering price of $31 per share, raising nearly $1.1 billion. On the first day of trading, CRCL opened at $69 and triggered trading halts multiple times due to extreme volatility, peaking at $103.75 before closing at $83.23, an increase of 168%. Based on the closing price, Circle's market value reached $18.4 billion; if including options, warrants, and other dilutive securities, the total valuation could reach $21.4 billion.
On Friday, CRCL's stock price continued to rise, closing at $107.7, with after-hours trading reporting $111.15, an increase of about 29.4% from the previous trading day. At this point, Circle's market value had reached approximately $21.6 billion.
The world's second-largest stablecoin issuer, USDC's market value surpasses $60 billion
Founded in 2013, Circle initially focused on fiat cross-border payment services. Its flagship product is the dollar-pegged stablecoin USDC, as well as the euro-pegged EUDC. As of the end of the first quarter of 2025, USDC's total market value was $59.976 billion, accounting for about 29% of the global stablecoin market share, second only to Tether's USDT (market value approximately $153.8 billion).
Circle earns risk-free interest income by investing the dollar reserves deposited by users in safe assets such as short-term U.S. Treasury bonds and cash, supporting the 1:1 redemption mechanism of USDC. According to the prospectus, Circle achieved total revenue of $1.676 billion in 2024, with about 99% coming from reserve interest income.
It is worth noting that Circle's revenue is highly dependent on interest rates, with about 99% of its income derived from reserve interest. If interest rates decline, its profitability may be affected.
Strong financial performance, continuous improvement in profitability
In recent years, Circle's revenue and profitability have steadily increased. From 2022 to 2024, Circle achieved revenues of $772 million, $1.45 billion, and $1.676 billion, respectively; net profits from continuing operations were -$760 million, $271 million, and $157 million. In the first quarter of 2025, the company reported revenue of $579 million, a year-on-year increase of 58.6%; profit from continuing operations was $92.94 million, and net profit was $64.79 million.
Adjusted EBITDA (Non-GAAP) figures show that Circle achieved $96.28 million, $395 million, and $285 million in 2022, 2023, and 2024, respectively, reaching $122 million in the first quarter of 2025, an increase of nearly 60% compared to the same period last year.
However, the company is also facing pressure from rising distribution costs, particularly due to significantly increased revenue sharing with strategic partners like Coinbase.
From "American Alipay" to a full-chain stablecoin ecosystem operator
In its early days, Circle was dubbed the "American version of Alipay" thanks to its Circle Pay product, and later gradually shifted towards a financial infrastructure layout centered on stablecoins. In 2018, Circle and Coinbase jointly established the Centre Consortium and launched USDC together. In August 2023, Circle spent approximately $209.9 million to repurchase Coinbase's 50% stake in Centre, completely regaining control of USDC. The transaction was completed with 8.4 million shares of Circle common stock, and Centre subsequently became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Circle, which was dissolved at the end of that year, with related assets integrated into the Circle system.
Throughout its long-term development, Circle has received multiple rounds of capital support, with investors including IDG Capital, Accel, General Catalyst, Breyer Capital, Baidu, Wanxiang, Everbright Holdings, CICC Jiazi, and Silver Lake founding partners.
Industry Perspective: Crypto Financial Infrastructure Fully Enters Capital Markets
Circle's listing coincides with a strong rebound in the crypto market. Driven by the Trump administration's more favorable stance towards the crypto industry, Bitcoin recently broke the historical high of $110,000, and related companies like Coinbase, Robinhood, and Galaxy Digital saw significant stock price increases. Circle's successful listing will bring two major changes to the stablecoin market and the compliant crypto market:
As a publicly traded company, Circle is required to regularly and thoroughly disclose its reserve composition (such as the clearly defined U.S. Treasury and cash mix in the prospectus), audit results, and core financial details (for example, 99% of its revenue comes from reserve interest). This unprecedented standard of transparency will create strong industry pressure, forcing other stablecoin issuers, especially those with less transparent operations, to enhance their information disclosure levels and reduce the space for "black box operations."
In terms of financial system integration, Circle's listing on the NYSE opens an important channel for traditional capital to enter the stablecoin space. Traditionally conservative large institutional investors, such as pension funds and index funds, can now indirectly allocate to the stablecoin infrastructure sector by purchasing CRCL stock, avoiding the complex thresholds and high regulatory risks associated with direct investment in cryptocurrencies. At the same time, the strong credibility brought by the listing will significantly enhance institutional acceptance and trust in USDC as "trustworthy on-chain cash," promoting more traditional financial institutions to adopt USDC as a key bridge asset for innovative scenarios such as cross-border settlement, government bond tokenization, and real-time payments.
Next week, Circle will enter its second week since the listing, and Odaily will continue to track the price trends for you.
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