CRCL shares surged 60% in a week after USDC reached $75.3 billion in revenue, with a 77% increase, amid investors repositioning Circle as an AI payment infrastructure.
Circle shares continued their upward trend, surging another 15% on Monday, bringing their total gain to approximately 60% since the company released its fourth-quarter earnings last week.
According to data from Google Finance, CRCL is trading around $96, although it is still more than 10% lower than its listing price on the New York Stock Exchange last June. The company's earnings were impressive, with USDC 's revenue increasing 72% to $75.3 billion and revenue rising 77% to $770 million, despite a net loss for the quarter due to IPO-related expenses.
The surge occurred amidst geopolitical pressure on the global cryptocurrency market, with Bitcoin fluctuating around $68,372 after a brief sell-off following the US-led airstrike on Iran. While oil and gold prices rose due to supply concerns, Capital flowed into stablecoin-related stocks, reflecting a clear divergence in how investors assess risk.
USDC: From Cryptocurrency Asset to AI Payment Infrastructure
The most notable aspect of this price surge is the shift in how the market values Circle. Pav Hundal, chief analyst at Swyftx, notes that USDC is no longer simply a bet on a cryptocurrency but is being seen as a payment infrastructure serving automated artificial intelligence agents. In that picture, AI agents executing transactions on behalf of users will naturally prioritize the lowest-cost infrastructure, and the stablecoin is already positioned for this Vai .
CEO Jeremy Allaire further reinforced this point by linking Circle future to AI during the earnings call, stating that AI would drive the greatest economic acceleration in history.
On the policy front, the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency last week outlined the details for implementing the GENIUS Act, the framework for stablecoins signed into law last summer.
This proposal could restrict some stablecoin-related reward programs, impacting the USDC revenue- Chia mechanism with Coinbase, but some analysts argue that if the CLARITY Act prohibits revenue Chia with distributors, paradoxically, it would protect Circle 's revenue stream from competitive pressure.
Meanwhile, the 0.1% increase in USDC supply YTD has outpaced the 2% decrease in USDT, suggesting a gradual but systematic shift in stablecoin market share is underway.
