Circle IPO: Shares of the creator of one of the world's most important stablecoins have started trading

Shares of Circle Internet Group, the company that created one of the world's most popular cryptocurrencies, USDC, have become available to investors in the Freedom trading system. The company held one of the largest IPOs of the year, increasing the size of the offering and the value of the securities at the last minute. They were given the ticker CRCL. Trading of the stock on the New York Stock Exchange will begin in a few hours.

Circle and its current shareholders placed a total of 34 million shares of Class A common stock at $31 each. Circle itself sold 14.8 million securities, while shareholders sold the remaining 19.2 million. Based on those numbers, Circle's IPO raised a total of nearly $1.1 billion, and the entire company could be valued at $6.9 billion, wrote Bloomberg. If employee stock options, restricted stock and warrants are included, the company's valuation comes to about $8.1 billion, the agency added.

Circle's listing was one of the biggest this year, noted Reuters. Circle sold more shares and at a price above the range it had hoped for. The company initially offered 9.6 million securities, with its shareholders offering another 14.4 million at prices ranging from $24 to $26. On Monday, June 2, the parameters increased to 12.8 million and 19.2 million shares, respectively, at prices ranging from $27 to $28 each. Thus, the company was targeting a valuation of up to $7.2 billion, it and its investors expected to raise up to $896 million.

The IPO was organized by JPMorgan, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Barclays and Deutsche Bank Securities, among others. About 10% of the shares were intended to buy investment company BlackRock, Bloomberg sources reported. Kathy Wood's Ark Investment Management fund also expressed interest in buying up to $150 million worth of securities, according to Circle's IPO filing. Circle's IPO attracted several times the number of available securities, Bloomberg wrote.

Circle developed USDC - one of the world's largest steiblcoins: it is a cryptocurrency whose exchange rate is pegged to real (fiat) currency (usually at a 1:1 ratio) to maintain a constant value. USDC is pegged to the dollar, it is the second largest steiblcoin in the world by capitalization, noted by Reuters.

Circle's main source of revenue is interest earned from investing in U.S. Treasury bonds backing the USDC stealthcoin, Reuters writes. That revenue increased 55.1 percent - to $557.9 million - in the first quarter of 2025, which ended March 31, according to Circle's IPO filing. Total revenue totaled $578.6 million, but at the same time, distribution and transaction costs rose 68.2%, outpacing the rate of revenue growth. Circle distributes stablecoins mainly through a partnership with cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and other third-party services, Reuters added. The company also increased profits by a third year-on-year to $64.8 million, compared with the same period in 2024 The amount of reserves, as of May 29, was $61.3 billion.

Circle is led by Jeremy Allaire, whom Barron's called an experienced entrepreneur and investor. Circle already tried to go public in 2021 through a merger with another already publicly traded company (SPAC), but ultimately withdrew from the deal.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had questions about Circle last year: whether it should be registered as an investment company and the USDC as a security, wrote Barron's. However, since Donald Trump's return to the White House, the SEC has new leadership that is more friendly to cryptocurrencies, the publication noted.

The cryptocurrency sector is poised for rapid growth due to increased regulatory clarity and the growing use of digital assets: under these conditions, demand for stablecoins may increase, which will lead to the expansion of Circle's revenue in the future, Freedom Broker analyst Alem Bektemirov said. The company's net profit, according to Freedom's calculations, could reach $1.12 billion by 2034 - that's seven times more than it was in 2024 ($155.7 million).

The target price for Circle shares, according to Freedom, is $37.9 per paper - that's 22% higher than the IPO price of $31. A risk for Circle could be the launch of digital currencies by central banks, as they will reduce demand for stablecoins, Bektemirov said. In addition, he named competition in the market among the threats.

The increase in Circle's offering reflects the growing prospects for the stablecoin market and high investor interest in cryptocurrency companies, accounts Reuters.

«The increase in [offer] size seems less like an anticipation of regulatory change than a calculated bet that even a slow-moving [cryptocurrency] bill [in the U.S.] won't hurt the global payment system that Circle is promoting,» said Michael Ashley Shulman, investment director at Running Point Capital, in a presentation to the agency.

The new boom in cryptocurrencies, the rising value of bitcoin, the rise in cryptocurrency stocks and good IPOs of other market participants (e.g. eToro) are all in theory positive signals for Circle, Barron's noted. But Circle and USDC face competition for market leadership - primarily with Tether, which issues the most popular dollar-stablecoin USDT, the publication wrote. Its total volume of tokens in circulation is more than twice that of USDC - $153 billion versus $61 billion, shows CoinMarketCap. Investors shouldn't worry about that just yet, though: the increase in offer size and IPO price looks to be a sign that demand for Circle shares will remain healthy once trading begins - at least initially, accounts Barron's. 

The market opportunity in providing dollar-linked stablecoins is huge and is still likely to grow significantly as long as the dollar remains in demand globally, noted IPO expert Donovan Jones on Seeking Alpha. Circle will face risks typical of a public company related to compliance, regulators and cyberattacks, he added.

_______________________

Freedom Broker clients will be able to trade Circle Internet Corp shares before the opening of the main exchange session. Trading will begin in the early pre-market format 2-3 hours before the opening of the US exchanges (from 15:30-16:30 Astana time). To participate, click on the ticker CRCL.US.