Jamie Wilde
2 min read
Circle raised more than $1 billion in its NYSE debut yesterday, and that’s not a round-ing error. The stablecoin issuer’s shares opened at more than double their $31 IPO price to peak above $100.
Circle — which issues USDC, the No. 2 stablecoin behind Tether — joins a short-list of crypto-only companies that have gone public, including Coinbase, Mara Holdings, and Riot Platforms.
This is Circle’s second attempt at going public, after its reverse SPAC in 2022 sputtered under regulatory scrutiny. Circle is benefiting from better vibes this time as the US government, businesses, banks, and retail traders clamber aboard the crypto train.
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Bitcoin’s price is hovering above $100,000, and the Senate is pushing through a stablecoin bill as the two digital assets — which are generally seen as more reliable than, say, fartcoin — stand at the vanguard of President Trump’s pro-crypto era.
Vice President JD Vance spoke at a bitcoin conference last week, saying the administration would continue to push forward pro-crypto policies. Trump, whose family crypto venture (World Liberty Financial) launched a stablecoin in March, boasted at last year’s conference that he’d make the US the world’s “crypto capital.”
Big banks are following the government’s lead:
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JPMorgan Chase is planning to start accepting crypto ETFs as loan collateral, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, and begin including crypto assets in its net-worth calculations of clients (which could help determine borrowing limits). Translation: One of the biggest banks will treat crypto more like stocks or art.
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Morgan Stanley is said to be exploring adding crypto-trading to its E*Trade platform next year after rolling out bitcoin ETFs to clients last year.
Coin Toss: Brookings published a report Monday raising red flags about the potential risks to the public that could come with the pro-crypto era — including fraud, as well as volatility in retirement plans as big banks embrace crypto. Regulatory confusion is also brewing: The SEC is said to have walked back its approval last week of two crypto ETFs after questioning whether the firms behind them counted as investment companies by its definition. Still, Circle’s IPO shows crypto hype is running hot and isn’t likely to be tempered too quickly by a few red flags.
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