Circle Internet Corp. (CRCL) experienced a significant 5.00% decline in its stock price during Thursday's intraday trading session.
The movement follows news that Meta has begun paying select content creators in Colombia and the Philippines using Circle's USDC stablecoin via Stripe's payment infrastructure. Meta emphasized it is not issuing its own stablecoin but is instead utilizing Circle's existing USDC, which has a market capitalization exceeding $77 billion. This marks Meta's first crypto payout program since shutting down its Libra/Diem project in 2022 due to regulatory pressure.
The strategic shift represents Meta's re-entry into crypto payments, but this time as a customer of existing infrastructure rather than as an issuer. With Meta having paid creators nearly $3 billion in 2025, even partial conversion to USDC payouts could represent significant volume for Circle's stablecoin ecosystem.