In a turbulent market, the IPO of USDC stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Group Inc (NYSE:CRCL) stood out significantly, with shares jumping 168.48% on their first day of trading.
The stock opened at $69 on the New York Stock Exchange after an IPO at $31. The stock closed at $83.23, after reaching a high of $103.75 during the session.
The New York-based company priced its IPO Wednesday night well above the expected range this week, which was between $27 and $28, and above last week's initial range of $24 to $26, valuing the company at about $6.8 billion before trading began.
At the end of the session, Circle had reached a market capitalization of $18.52 billion.
Circle joins Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN), Mara Holdings, and Riot Platforms (NASDAQ:RIOT) among the few cryptocurrency-focused companies listed in the U.S. This is the company's second attempt at going public. A previous merger with a special purpose acquisition company failed at the end of 2022 due to regulatory challenges.
"To realize our vision, we needed to build relationships with governments, we needed to work with policymakers... because if you want it to work for the general public, it has to work in society at large and you need to have the rules of the game in place," said CEO Jeremy Allaire on CNBC Thursday.
"We are one of the most licensed, regulated, compliant, and transparent companies in the history of this industry, and that has served us well," he added.
The cryptocurrency sector is experiencing a resurgence of political interest under the current U.S. administration. The stablecoin sector, in particular, is booming, awaiting Congress's adoption of stablecoin legislation this summer. Wall Street analysts estimate it could increase its size tenfold over the next five years, creating a potential market of one trillion dollars.
Circle created the USDC stablecoin, pegged to the U.S. dollar, to establish a standard for fiat currency on the Internet. It is the second largest stablecoin in the market, behind Tether's USDT, which is not a publicly traded company.
It is worth recalling that stablecoins are cryptocurrencies whose value is pegged to that of another asset, usually the U.S. dollar. Traditionally used as bridge currencies by cryptocurrency traders, stablecoins are now attracting increased interest from banks and payment companies, as the Trump administration rolls back cryptocurrency policies from the Biden era and Congress is set to approve the system.
More specifically, companies that are not traditional users of cryptocurrencies are now interested in the efficiency and reduced cost that stablecoins could bring to remittances, inter-business payments, and e-commerce, while remaining essential to tokenized financial markets.
So this is a company related to the world of cryptocurrencies, but not directly exposed to the fluctuations of the crypto market, unlike the Coinbase platform or BTC miner Riot, for example.
Finally, it should be noted that Circle's stock was still up in after-hours trading, not excluding another day of gains this Friday.
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