Circle Prices IPO Above Range, Valuing It at $6.8 Billion. The Stock Starts Trading Thursday. — Barrons.com

Paul R. La Monica

Crypto mania is definitely back. Just look at the robust demand for the initial public offering of Circle Internet Group, the leader in the world of stablecoins.

Circle, which plans to list 34 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange Thursday under the ticker symbol CRCL, priced its initial public offering Wednesday evening at $31 a share, above the originally expected price range.

At a price of $31, Circle would have a market capitalization of about $6.8 billion. (The value would increase to nearly $8 billion including options, warrants, and shares that could be purchased by underwriters.) The company will raise nearly $1.1 billion from the stock sale.

Demand for the shares was expected to be strong. A managing director of trading at one Wall Street firm told Barron's that the offering is massively oversubscribed, meaning there is more demand for the stock than available shares.

Circle had proposed a price range of $27 to $28 a share earlier this week, up from an initial range of $24 to $26. The company also raised the amount of shares it planned to sell, first from 26 million to 32 million and then again to 34 million.

Circle is the issuer of USDC, a cryptocurrency that is pegged to the U.S. dollar. The price of USDC tends to hover around $1, hence its classification as a stablecoin.

Circle is profitable, and its earnings and revenue have steadily increased thanks to income generated from interest generated on reserves it holds on its balance sheet. But Jacob Zuller, an analyst at Third Bridge, thinks the company will look to diversify its revenue stream and focus more on payments.

Stablecoins, such as USDC and the rival USDT token from Circle competitor Tether, are billed as being better for payments and settlements, and also as a digital store of value since their prices don't fluctuate wildly like Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and other cryptocurrencies.

Circle's USDC trails Tether's USDT, though. According to data from CoinMarketCap, USDT has a market value of $153.8 billion compared to $61.5 billion for USDC.

Both stablecoins are considerably smaller than Bitcoin, which has a valuation of $2.1 trillion. But investor enthusiasm for cryptocurrencies overall is palpable. Bitcoin prices have surged more than 35% since April 7, shortly after President Donald Trump's Liberation Day announcement led to a steep sell-off in most risky assets.

Shares of crypto-investing firms Coinbase Global, which has a partnership with Circle, and Robinhood Markets have also rallied sharply in the past two months. Meanwhile, fellow crypto investment firms eToro Group and Galaxy Digital have both recently begun trading on Wall Street.

Trump and other regulators in Washington, such as Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins, have embraced digital currencies, a stark change in tone from President Joe Biden and former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, a noted crypto critic.

A proposed bill in Congress to regulate stablecoins, the so-called GENIUS Act, could also give a lift to Circle if it passes. Third Bridge's Zuller said more stablecoin regulations would help Circle, a U.S. company based in New York City, catch up to Tether, which recently relocated its headquarters to El Salvador, which has adopted Bitcoin as a legal currency.

Zuller predicts that Circle's stablecoin market share could grow from 28% to 40%, noting that "while regulatory uncertainty remains, some clarity is emerging."

The question now is whether this translates to further bullishness for crypto-related stocks on Wall Street. A successful debut for Circle could open the door for more crypto IPOs.

Write to Paul R. La Monica at paul.lamonica@barrons.com

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