[Citigroup: Stablecoin Reward Restrictions May Hinder USDC Expansion but Won't Affect Circle's Fundamentals] Odaily Planet Daily News - Citigroup stated that the restrictions on stablecoin reward mechanisms in the U.S. 'CLARITY Act' draft may pose temporary challenges for Circle (CRCL) but will not undermine its long-term investment logic. Analysts pointed out that the policy is more likely to impact the pace of scale expansion rather than pose a fundamental threat. The act proposes limiting stablecoin rewards similar to deposit interest but allows incentives related to transactions or payments. Since Circle itself does not directly pay rewards to USDC holders but distributes reserve earnings to channel partners like Coinbase, its core revenue model will not be directly affected. Citigroup believes that reduced rewards may weaken users' short-term motivation to hold USDC, thereby impacting circulation scale and secondary market liquidity. However, the key metric for stablecoin adoption remains transaction and payment volume rather than circulation volume itself. Previously, Circle's stock price dropped by about 20% due to policy uncertainty. However, institutions including Bernstein believe the market may have misinterpreted the policy's impact, as the regulatory focus is on platforms distributing rewards to users (such as Coinbase) rather than Circle's reserve earnings model. (CoinDesk)