Dr J Rould
Full-Time Tech Investor, Quantum/Cybersecurity, Philosophy Background
Circle's long-term multi-bagger thesis, that USDC becomes a key part of next-generation payment rails, no longer looks on track. In just the past few days, 140 entities, including many major names, partnered with OUSD, and Robinhood announced a 7% yield program via USDG. Circle can still be a successful business, and its fall to the targeted ~$64 entry level looks justified by fundamentals, so the 'Circle is poised to dominate' case is crumbling. x.comÂ
Circle does not look like a buy after its drop if a new rival stablecoin has broken its business model. Per @puckrin, Stripe, Coinbase, Visa, Mastercard, BlackRock and more than 140 others launched Open USD, which charges zero minting fees and hands reserve yield back to partners; that yield is Circle's business model, which @puckrin calls an existential threat. Circle stock fell 14% on the news. x.com x.comÂ
Circle is unlikely to win corporate treasuries, because companies holding mostly T-bills gain nothing by handing those assets to Circle so it can collect their yield. That answers @drGhostinOO7, who argues corporate treasuries are waiting to be tokenized and Circle can take market share from SWIFT. x.comÂ
Circle is the crypto infrastructure play with real adoption, as the company behind the USDC stablecoin. x.comÂ
Circle faces pricing pressure because stablecoin infrastructure has low barriers to entry, which is why it stays an underweight with only small exposure. The risk showed when Circle fell 13% as Stripe, Coinbase and BlackRock backed a rival stablecoin, Open USD. x.com x.comÂ
Circle's valuation is far too high to consider right now, given risks from crypto sentiment and margin pressure. That holds despite strong momentum: Q4 revenue rose 77% to $770M with a solid EPS beat, it has launched institutional payment platforms and expanded African partnerships, and potential US stablecoin legislation is a tailwind. x.comÂ
Circle's USDC has a temporary EU go-to-market moat. The European Banking Authority gave USDC alone 'significant' stablecoin status among 45 e-money tokens under MiCA, adding a regulatory advantage to Circle's case as a sleeping giant. x.com x.comÂ
Circle's profits face growing pressure, and the market is starting to price that in. It earns most of its money from interest on USDC reserves, and Coinbase already takes about 50% of that revenue. USDC's $73 billion market cap trails Tether's $145 billion, and Open USD is adding pressure with zero minting fees and reserve income shared with over 140 partners. x.comÂ
Circle faces an existential threat because leaked CLARITY Act text would ban platforms from offering yield on stablecoins, directly or indirectly. Circle earns 96% of its revenue from interest on USDC reserves, and the bill also targets anything economically equivalent to interest, per @NeelMacro citing Eleanor Terrett. No yield on stablecoins means no demand for USDC, and Circle's revenue base evaporates. The stock fell 19% in a session, erasing $5.6B of market value. x.comÂ
Circle still benefits from the large stablecoin trend and USDC's utility for businesses and users, so early AI-agent cash recommendations are no reason to turn bearish. Mizuho cut its target to $43 and sees a 10-20% reserve-revenue hit after sampled agents favored insured, higher-yield options over USDC. Few people let agents manage their money, and those who do are not a large share of USDC holders. Agent-only stablecoin payments may be overhyped. x.comÂ
Circle faces real stablecoin competition as Open Standard launched its own stablecoin, Open USD, straight into USDC's lane. Circle stock fell 16.55% in 24 hours to $62, adding to last week's exit from five Russell Growth indexes. x.comÂ
