Did Circle execute its IPO ‘perfectly’?

Circle had a pretty successful first day of trading, but what’s next for the stablecoin issuer?

article-image

BEST-BACKGROUNDS/Shutterstock and Adobe modified by Blockworks

share

This is a segment from the Empire newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe.


I know we’ve been talking a lot about Circle, but let’s be honest…whether you love or hate the firm, it’s a huge success story this week. 

The stablecoin issuer finally debuted on the New York Stock Exchange yesterday, jumping as high as $103 before closing around $83. Quite a ride if you were watching it in real time, but if you weren’t, it closed up over 160% after pricing at $31 Wednesday night. 

What was clear today was that retail was just as interested as institutions (ICYMI: Bloomberg reported that the offering was 20x oversubscribed earlier this week). 

Speaking of institutions, Cathie Wood’s Ark disclosed that it bought nearly 4.5 million Circle shares, an amount worth over $373 million. Ark previously said it was interested in roughly $150 million, per a Circle filing. 

As my colleague (and Forward Guidance newsletter author) Ben Strack wrote: It makes sense for folks to be interested in both COIN and CRCL. 

“Coinbase is the Amazon of crypto — trading, derivatives, custody, staking and, of course, stablecoins,” Bitwise’s Ryan Rasmussen told Strack. “Circle now offers pure-play exposure to stablecoins. I suspect investors will want both in their portfolios.

“With stablecoin legislation likely to pass this year, that growth is only going to accelerate. So they smash the buy button on Circle.”

But, on the Empire podcast today, co-hosts Jason Yanowitz and Santiago Santos talked not only about COIN and CRCL but also Robinhood. When Santos asked Yanowitz which stock he’d choose if he could only pick one, Yanowitz responded that he’s “gigalong HOOD at this point.”

What was perhaps more surprising — to me at least — was that Yanowitz said if he were to recreate his equity portfolio from scratch, he’d include Coinbase and Robinhood but not Circle. 

“I think we’re nearing a local top in sentiment for stablecoins,” Yanowitz explained. “I think Circle hit this IPO perfectly.”

But it’s not enough to get him to buy the stock.

Meanwhile, GSR’s Carlos Guzman told us: “Such a high degree of investor interest reflects significant optimism about the potential for stablecoins, especially as US legislation gets close to the finish line. As market structure legislation advances in Congress, we could see this interest extend to the rest of the industry, as clearer regulation sets the stage for broader adoption. I suspect we’ll be seeing several crypto companies accelerating their IPO plans now that Circle has revealed Wall Street’s appetite.”

What I’ll be watching now is whether or not Circle can keep the momentum. Hype’s great, but it doesn’t always last, and is $83 a fair price for the stock? We’ll have to see.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Research Report Templates (10).png

Research

Kamino has evolved into a full-stack asset scaling suite with V2: unlocking new markets, improving capital efficiency, and catering to various risk profiles. We believe it is best positioned to become the credit backbone of Solana as the ecosystem matures. Simply put, KMNO remains our highest-conviction bet in the Solana ecosystem. This report lays out our thesis.

article-image

EigenCloud wants to make crypto-economic guarantees a plug-and-play primitive

article-image

In a new letter, Gemini alleges that the CFTC’s DOE had ulterior motives for 2022 suit

article-image

Sponsored

Neitec’s Debita platform is closing the credit gap by unlocking high-yield private debt in markets that need it most

article-image

From bank porters to stablecoins, the history of money is a story of acceleration

article-image

The Byreal DEX will use both centralized and decentralized liquidity sources to route trades

article-image

Last week’s solana ETF amendments points to “some sort of push from the SEC to get things organized,” a person familiar tells Blockworks.