Original Author: Fairy, ChainCatcher
After seven years of perseverance, the bell has finally rung. USDC's "compliance narrative" has at last received its Wall Street certification. Since 2018, Circle has been knocking on the doors of the capital market, weathering bull and bear markets, policy negotiations, and even a failed SPAC listing. Now, this long journey to listing has finally reached its destination, opening a new chapter in the stablecoin narrative.
Circle's Listing Begins
On its first day of trading, Circle (CRCL) performed strongly, opening with a significant surge, triggering circuit breakers twice, with the stock price soaring to $103 per share at one point. Within just 40 minutes of opening, trading volume exceeded 20 million shares, and market capitalization jumped to over $20 billion. Circle completed its IPO on the New York Stock Exchange at $31 per share, raising $1.1 billion with a valuation of $6.2 billion. Its impressive performance exceeded the initial pricing range of $24-26.
In fact, this listing was more like a concentrated explosion of twelve years of accumulation. According to RootData, Circle has completed 8 financing rounds since its establishment in 2013, with total financing reaching $1.111 billion. Its shareholders include top-tier institutions such as Goldman Sachs, Accel, General Catalyst, and Fidelity. Today, the IPO is not just an exit for capital, but also an upgrade and confirmation of its identity narrative.
Why is Circle Accelerating its IPO Now?
At a time when the 'GENIUS Act' stablecoin bill has made a key procedural breakthrough and the U.S. regulatory framework is gradually becoming clearer, Circle has decisively pressed the IPO accelerator. It may seem like "riding the momentum," but it's actually "seizing the opportunity".
The Trump family's crypto project WLFI has already issued a stablecoin USD 1, Wyoming plans to launch the first state-level stablecoin in July, and traditional financial giants like JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, and Wells Fargo are making frequent moves in stablecoin deployment. Circle's carefully cultivated compliance moat could lose its meaning overnight if "national teams" enter the field. The listing might not be about adding to the cycle, but about "stamping" its own positioning and fighting for the last-mover advantage under the regulatory tide.
The details disclosed in the prospectus reveal another side of the IPO: In this listing, existing shareholders selling shares account for as high as 60%, far exceeding the typical IPO level for tech companies. CEO Jeremy Allaire will personally reduce his stake by 8%, while top investment institutions like Accel, Fidelity, and General Catalyst also plan to reduce their stakes by about 10%. For many early investors, the current window might be a good "exit opportunity".
Fortunately, the market response was quite enthusiastic. After the IPO announcement, Ark Invest stated it would subscribe to $150 million, and BlackRock planned to take 10% of Circle's total IPO issuance. Circle's issuance scale was raised from 24 million to 32 million shares due to strong investor demand, with the public offering ultimately oversubscribed by more than 25 times.
Who Will Take Off?
Circle's successful listing is not just its own moment of glory, but also means that the global stablecoin track is entering a new cycle of mainstream capital catalysis. In this context, a group of companies that early on bet on the stablecoin ecosystem and laid out core technologies and compliance capabilities are ushering in a "value reassessment" window. So, in this new trend, which assets are most likely to benefit first?
Early Shareholders
As early as 2016, Chinese giants like Baidu, China Everbright Holdings, CICC Jiazi, and Yixun had already invested in Circle as strategic investors. Now, with mainstreaming accelerating, early shareholders are being refocused. Among them, China Everbright Holdings has risen by 38.8% in the past week, with the market already reflecting this potential dividend. Here are Circle's investors:
Additionally, we've compiled some stablecoin-related Hong Kong-listed companies:
ZA Online: Its affiliated company ZA Bank is the first local digital bank to provide reserve services for Hong Kong stablecoin issuers.
OSL Group: A licensed compliant exchange that has collaborated with Ethena to launch a stablecoin interest-bearing product.
Standard Chartered and PCCW: Collaborating with Animoca to issue stablecoins and have applied for a Hong Kong stablecoin license.
Lianlian Digital: Deploying cross-border stablecoin payments through Lianlian International, with its subsidiary DFX Labs having previously obtained a Hong Kong VATP license.
Coinbase and Base
In 2018, Coinbase and Circle jointly initiated the CENTRE consortium to launch the USDC stablecoin. Although CENTRE dissolved in 2023 and Circle became the sole issuer of USDC, Coinbase retained 50% of USDC income rights and partial equity, maintaining a close relationship.
Therefore, Circle's listing could not only directly benefit Coinbase (COIN) stock price but also make its Ethereum Layer 2 network Base worth watching. Base is Coinbase's self-developed Layer 2 blockchain, where USDC currently accounts for 90% of stablecoins on the network.
Related Tokens
Beyond equity and industrial chain linkage reactions, some related tokens might also rise in sync with market sentiment. For example, MKR, as the core token of the MakerDAO (now renamed Sky) ecosystem, has a high proportion of USDC in its underlying collateral assets, and Circle's positive news is expected to drive its price up. Overall, the stablecoin track and DeFi leading projects are likely to be beneficiaries of this market movement.
Additionally, the following tokens are worth noting:
ENA: A hot target under the stablecoin narrative
ONDO: BlackRock announced a 10% subscription of Circle's IPO shares, and Ondo's US Treasury token OUSG is based on BlackRock's BUIDL fund as its core underlying asset.
CRV: Curve is the primary venue for stablecoin trading, with USDC being a core asset in Curve's liquidity pools.
USDC now has a new value measure, and Circle has found resonance in the capital market. Circle's IPO is not just a milestone as the "first stablecoin stock" but also opens up a real and visible imagination space for stablecoins' future.
