The cryptocurrency market is reigniting. After experiencing a deep downturn early this year, cryptocurrency prices are soaring, and new investors are flocking in. A remarkable sign of the times is that Circle Internet Group's initial public offering (IPO) surged approximately 170% on its first day of trading on Thursday.
The company that issues a dollar-pegged stablecoin closed the day with a market value close to $20 billion. On Friday afternoon, its stock price rose another 40%.
Jeremy Fox-Green, Circle's Chief Financial Officer, stated at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on the day of listing, "We are committed to building a new internet financial system that is more open and can reduce costs and friction. We are just getting started, and we are still in a very early stage."
The two-and-a-half-month crypto bear market of 2025 has now come to an end. The market is enthusiastic about Bit and crypto-related companies. Bit price has once again broken through $100,000, and is now approaching its historical high after briefly falling below $75,000 in early April.
Retail investors are rushing into Bit, thanks to exchange-traded funds (ETFs) launched by companies like iShares (BlackRock) and Fidelity. Crypto broker Coinbase Global has now joined the S&P 500 index. Meanwhile, companies like MicroStrategy and GameStop are becoming "Bit treasuries," purchasing large amounts of cryptocurrency to bolster their balance sheets.
David Waddell, CEO and Chief Investment Strategist of Waddell & Associates, said, "The more corporate finance departments adopt Bit, the higher its price. I can calculate the supply and demand relationship in my mind," adding that the excitement about Bit is like a "religion being widely accepted."
This new bull market is driven by a friendly new regulatory landscape from Washington (including President Donald Trump). Trump himself is involved through his Trump Media & Technology Group, with a vested interest. This social media company is buying Bit and recently filed an application with the SEC to launch a Truth Social Bit ETF. Trump and his family are also supporters of the crypto platform World Liberty Financial, which issued the WLFI token. Eric and Donald Jr. Trump are shareholders of American Bit, an investment subsidiary of miner Hut 8, which is currently going public through a merger with competitor Gryphon Digital Mining.
"This is both a catalyst and brings conflict," said Dan Weiskopf, Senior Portfolio Manager at Subversive ETFs. The company manages the Unusual Whales Subversive Republican Trading ETF, which invests in securities held by Republican congressmen. Based on this strategy, iShares Bit Trust ETF and MicroStrategy are the fund's two largest holdings.
However, investors considering buying Bit, other cryptocurrencies, or digital currency ecosystem-related stocks need to be extremely cautious. The market still contains a lot of hype, and the crypto field is known almost exclusively for its dizzying price volatility.
"How do you assess the value of Bit? It has always been so volatile," said Tony Roth, Chief Investment Officer at Wilmington Trust. "I don't object to you giving it a try. But this is purely a speculative capital appreciation game."
However, ignoring the potential of Bit, stablecoins, and other digital assets might not be a good idea. Bit supporters believe you just need to understand what you're getting into and be prepared for the massive price fluctuations of cryptocurrencies and related stocks.
"Retail investors were feeling low earlier this year," said Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer of Bitwise Asset Management, which manages a series of ETFs. "But traditional institutional investors, hedge funds, and family offices never changed their bullish stance. This pullback was just a small interlude."
Hougan believes cryptocurrency as an asset class is still in its early stages. Currently, the total value of all cryptocurrencies is about $3.3 trillion, with Bit alone accounting for about $2.1 trillion. In comparison, the global gold supply is worth nearly $23 trillion, and the total global stock market value exceeds $115 trillion. Therefore, Hougan believes that if investors are optimistic about cryptocurrencies, allocating about 5% of their assets is reasonable - even just to achieve a neutral market weight, one should hold at least 2-3% in cryptocurrencies. He is not the only one with this view.
"Bit will not disappear. We have crossed that watershed. It is an asset that will continue to exist," said John Darsie, Partner and Global Business Development Director at SkyBridge Capital. He added that in the long term, Bit should become a viable alternative to fiat currency, "Bit is, in a way, a report card on the responsible behavior of global governments".
Will Reeves, founder and CEO of Fold Holdings, a listed financial services company focused on Bit, added that crypto supporters have a demographic advantage,
which could drive the market further up.
"Bit is a millennial asset. This group is just entering their financial golden period," Reeves said.
Circle, led by tech industry veteran Jeremy Allaire, is benefiting from the growing demand for a digital version of real-time cross-border payments. Circle is the issuer of USDC, which competes with Tether's USDT stablecoin.
Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies specifically pegged to the value of another asset (usually traditional currencies like USD or EUR). This makes them much less volatile than Bit and other cryptocurrencies. USDC and USDT prices remain stable around $1. Stablecoins are becoming increasingly popular with financial institutions and consumers due to their ability to enable seamless real-time digital fund transfers (such as remittances). Some stablecoins are also backed by physical commodities like gold.
Traders may soon have more investment options to profit from the Bit boom. Circle's stunning IPO, along with the successful U.S. listings of its competitor eToro and the crypto company Galaxy Digital operated by long-time Bit bull Michael Novogratz, could attract more digital asset companies to Wall Street - especially given the current regulatory environment, which is more open to cryptocurrencies than during former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler's tenure.
"The previous government (Biden administration) was not friendly to blockchain and stablecoins," said Kevin Lehtiniitty, CEO of payment network Borderless.xyz. "We expect more crypto companies to go public because Gary Gensler and his regulatory era have ended." Lehtiniitty pointed out that digital wallet company Fireblocks, exchange and trading platform Crypto.com, and compliance and data platform Chainalysis are potential IPO candidates.
Alyse Killeen, Managing Partner at venture capital firm Stillmark, added that the optimism brought by the Genius Act currently under congressional review is beneficial to the crypto industry. The act will provide a more regulatory framework for stablecoins.
However, investors should remain vigilant. The market's explosive rebound has raised concerns: even if not entirely irrational, the market's enthusiasm is at least somewhat premature and excessive. First, it is unclear whether many cryptocurrency companies (let alone hundreds of currencies and tokens) will survive. Similar to the internet boom and subsequent bubble burst about a quarter-century ago, some of today's industry leaders may not exist or may be significantly reduced in scale in the coming decades.
This is why investors who believe in cryptocurrency, blockchain technology, and digital assets might be better off holding Bit through easily accessible retail ETFs (exchange-traded funds) now offered by many major Wall Street companies. Stillmark's Kline describes these ETFs as a "familiar Bit entry point" that has created a broader investor base.
Even an executive at a listed crypto company acknowledges that ETFs may be the best option for most investors. "If you've been in the crypto space for a while, you become very accustomed to this volatility," said James Gernetzke, CFO of Exodus Movement, a self-custodial Bit wallet provider focused on Bit. "ETFs are very important, not everyone can be a 'crypto bro'."
However, everyone can become a crypto enthusiast and benefit from the industry's long-term growth without taking on the additional risks of companies that ultimately failed to become the Amazon, Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook), or Alphabet (Google's parent company) of the Bit realm.
