Author: Ji Zhenyu, Tencent News 'Perspective'
In the latest wealth creation story on Wall Street, the listing of USDC issuer Circle (NYSE: CRCL) is a simultaneous performance of "victorious escape" and "capital fantasy".
On one side of the story, the company's founders, executives, and early investors precisely cashed out nearly $600 million during the IPO, but also missed out on the subsequent "paper wealth" of over $4.2 billion brought by the soaring stock price.
On the other side, Wall Street showed unprecedented enthusiasm for this "crypto world disruptor". Its stock price took off from the $31 issue price, once soaring to nearly $300, rising nearly 10-fold in less than a month, becoming one of the most eye-catching IPOs this year. Meanwhile, many analysts unhesitatingly gave "buy" ratings, predicting it would dominate in a future market worth trillions of dollars.
This hot and cold scenario inevitably makes investors ponder: What vision or concerns led these insiders, who know the company best, to choose a "not perfect" perfect exit? What vast prospects did the enthusiastic public market investors see in this company's future?
A long-term financial technology analyst told Tencent News that although internal personnel and early investors sold heavily during the IPO, he believes these are routine operations and remains firmly optimistic about the long-term development of stablecoins, as the regulatory environment and industry ecosystem are just beginning.
From Vision to Foundation: Circle's Ten-Year Evolution Path
To understand Circle's internal decisions, one must first understand the company's DNA. Founded in 2013, the founders Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville's original intention was far more than creating a new digital currency. Their vision, recorded in the "Founders' Letter" of the prospectus, was to "establish an entirely new global economic system" - an internet-based system that allows value to flow freely and frictionlessly like information.
The company's development was not smooth sailing. After initially trying point-to-point payment apps similar to Venmo and crypto exchange businesses, they ultimately underwent strategic contraction and business transformation. The real turning point came in 2018 when Circle partnered with crypto giant Coinbase to establish the Centre Alliance and launch their flagship product - the USDC dollar stablecoin.
USDC's design precisely hit the pain point of the crypto world: it provided a 1:1 USD-pegged, regulated, and transparently reserved value anchor. Circle adopted a "regulation-first" strategy from the beginning, actively applying for and obtaining the first BitLicense issued by New York State and compliance permits in multiple major global financial centers. This compliance commitment helped USDC stand out in the mixed stablecoin market and win the trust of institutions and mainstream financial world. As emphasized in its prospectus, Circle is committed to "entering through the front door of regulators and policymakers".
Today, USDC has become the world's second-largest stablecoin, with a circulation of over $60 billion, natively running on 20 blockchains, forming the cornerstone of Circle's vast commercial empire.
(Translation continues in the same manner for the rest of the text)Moreover, Circle's crazy surge was also aided by an increasingly favorable regulatory environment. Recently, the "GENIUS Act" passed by the U.S. Senate, which aims to establish a clear regulatory framework for stablecoins, was interpreted by the market as a major positive for compliant participants like Circle. Analysts generally believe that a clear regulatory environment will accelerate USDC's adoption among mainstream financial institutions and enterprises.
Circle's IPO perfectly demonstrates two completely different perspectives in the capital market: for founders, executives, and early VCs, this is a rational harvest after a long entrepreneurial journey. They face known massive risks - industry competition, systemic financial risks, and regulatory uncertainty. In the face of these risks, converting part of their "paper wealth" into tangible bank deposits is a prudent and wise financial decision.
For public market investors, they are currently betting on a more grand future. They believe that as the digital economy surges forward, Circle, with its compliance advantages and technological barriers, will become an indispensable financial infrastructure in this new era, its value far beyond today.
Whether the cautious insiders misjudged the rocket's fuel or the enthusiastic external investors ignored the flight risks, the answer to this nearly $5 billion question may only be revealed by time.
