What I Read This Week…

Circle went public this week in one of the most successful IPOs in recent memory, with shares 25× oversubscribed and the company raising $1 billion, more than double expectations.

Shares priced at $31 closed their first day of trading on the NYSE at $83, giving the company a market capitalization near $19 billion, and then rose again to over $107 the next day.

Circle is best known as the issuer of USDC, a dollar-backed stablecoin widely used for digital payments and on-chain financial infrastructure.

For years, Circle has operated ahead of U.S. regulation, building the underlying architecture for stablecoin issuance, compliance, and settlement in advance of regulatory and legal clarity.

Regulatory and legal clarity may be formalized soon through the GENIUS Act, a bipartisan bill advancing in the House Financial Services Committee that would establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for stablecoins.

In a market where the company that builds the most efficient infrastructure with cost-plus pricing (and a thin margin on top) wins, Circle’s head start and the resources raised through its IPO could give it an advantage over competitors.

The IPO’s success also suggests that public markets are open to new listings, especially from crypto companies, and reinforces that regulatory clarity may be the decisive factor in opening both private and public markets.