Circle ends NYSE debut up 167% from IPO price

Circle shares surged during their first day trading on the New York Stock Exchange as interest in the stablecoin issuer spilled over to retail investors.

The company’s stock opened around $69 — more than double the upsized IPO price of $31 per share. CRCL shares peaked at $103.75 before settling at $82 when the market closed, up 167% from the IPO price and about 20% from the opening price.

Institutional demand for Circle was evident when the company on Monday increased both the number of shares it planned to offer and the price range. Circle revealed further upsizing — 34 million shares at $31 each — Wednesday evening after a Bloomberg report indicated the offering was roughly 25 times oversubscribed.

GSR research analyst Carlos Guzman told Blockworks that Circle’s “impressive pop” as shares hit the NYSE is “further evidence of the market’s substantial demand for crypto equities as both institutional and retail investors rush to scoop up shares.”

The stock pared gains but held up despite a broader crypto selloff. Bitcoin’s price was about $102,000 at 4 pm ET — down 2.5% from 24 hours prior.

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Circle’s listing marks a milestone for the industry, giving equity investors another access point for crypto exposure. It comes roughly four years after Coinbase’s arrival on the Nasdaq in April 2021 — a direct listing different from the IPO route that Circle chose.

VanEck’s Matthew Sigel told Blockworks Tuesday: “If Coinbase is one of the main storefronts in the onchain economy, Circle could be the payments pipework running beneath it: less visible, but still essential to the flow of capital and trust.”

Bitwise research head Ryan Rasmussen said it makes sense for investors with a positive outlook on the long-term growth of crypto to hold both COIN and CRCL.

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

Circle’s USDC stablecoin has a market cap of roughly $62 billion — about a quarter of the broader stablecoin market (~$230 billion). Tether (USDT) leads the category with a market cap above $150 billion.

Public market investors examining the stablecoin space notice that Tether generates more profit than Goldman Sachs, Rasmussen noted. The company posted an operating profit exceeding $1 billion during the first quarter.

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“They want to invest in it, but they can’t; they know that Circle is the second-largest stablecoin issuer today and is growing rapidly,” the Bitwise executive told Blockworks. “With stablecoin legislation likely to pass this year, that growth is only going to accelerate. So, they smash the buy button on Circle.”

While Circle labeled “intense and increasing competition” and “fluctuations in interest rates” as risk factors in IPO filings, industry watchers have pointed to tailwinds for the company. Aside from regulatory clarity, we have seen many traditional financial companies exploring more ways to use blockchain technology.

“To say that stablecoins are simply a new form of payment or a new digital currency would be like saying that the internet is a better version of the fax machine,” Circle executive Spencer Spinnell said at last week’s Stablecon conference.

Circle’s public debut follows the Nasdaq listings of fellow crypto-focused firms Galaxy Digital and DeFi Technologies last month. Segment observers had predicted 2025 to be a year of more crypto public listings, as well as mergers and acquisitions.

Guzman noted: “With this IPO surpassing everyone’s expectations, we’ll likely see greater institutional and retail attention directed toward crypto and stablecoins, along with more crypto companies looking to go public.”

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