Original Article Title: "Circle's Strong Listing, Two Trading Halts, Who Are the Beneficiaries?"

Original Article Author: Fairy, ChainCatcher

A seven-year marathon, finally coming to fruition. The "compliance narrative" of USDC has finally received its Wall Street validation. Since 2018, Circle has been knocking on the door of the capital markets, going through bull and bear cycles, policy games, and even a failed SPAC listing. Now, this long-awaited listing marathon has finally reached its destination, also unveiling a new chapter for the stablecoin narrative.

Circle's Listing Debut

On the first day of trading, Circle (CRCL) showed strong performance, opening significantly higher, triggering two trading halts, with the stock price soaring to $103 per share at one point. Within just 40 minutes of trading, the trading volume exceeded 20 million shares, catapulting the market value to over $20 billion. Circle completed its IPO on the New York Stock Exchange at $31 per share, raising $1.1 billion, valuing the company at $62 billion. The impressive performance exceeded the initial expected price range of $24-$26.

In fact, this listing resembled more of a concentrated outbreak after twelve years of accumulation. According to RootData, since its founding in 2013, Circle has completed 8 funding rounds, with a total funding amount of $1.11 billion. Major shareholders include top-tier institutions such as Goldman Sachs, Accel, General Catalyst, and Fidelity. Today, the IPO is not only an exit for capital realization but also an upgrade and empowerment of its identity narrative.

Why Did Circle Accelerate Its IPO Now?

Amid the key procedural breakthrough of the "GENIUS Act" stablecoin bill and the gradual clarification of the U.S. regulatory framework, Circle decisively pressed the accelerator for its IPO. It may seem like "riding the wave," but it's actually "snatching a spot."

The Trump family's crypto project WLFI has issued the stablecoin USD1, and Wyoming plans to launch the first U.S. state-level stablecoin in July. Traditional financial giants such as JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo have also been actively involved in stablecoin initiatives. Circle's painstaking cultivation of a compliant moat for many years, once encountering the entry of the "national team," may lose its significance overnight. The listing may not be a mere cycle acceleration but a self-positioning "stamp," striving for the final first-mover advantage in the regulatory torrent.

However, the details disclosed in the prospectus reveal another side of the IPO: In this IPO, existing shareholders of Circle will sell up to 60% of the shares, far exceeding the typical level for a tech company IPO. CEO Jeremy Allaire will personally reduce his stake by 8%, while top-tier investment firms like Accel, Fidelity, and General Catalyst also plan to sell about 10% of their holdings. For many early investors, the current window may be a preferable "exit opportunity."

Fortunately, the market response has been very enthusiastic. Following the IPO announcement, Ark Invest stated its intent to subscribe to $150 million worth of shares, and BlackRock also plans to acquire 10% of the total IPO issuance of Circle. Due to strong investor demand, Circle's offering size was increased from 24 million shares to 32 million shares, with the final public offering oversubscribed by over 25 times.

Who Will Follow Suit?

Circle's successful listing is not only a shining moment for the company itself but also signifies a new round of mainstream capital catalyst for the global stablecoin race. Against this backdrop, a group of early backers of the stablecoin ecosystem who have invested in core technology and compliance capabilities are now experiencing a "value reassessment" window. So, in this new wave, which assets are most likely to benefit first?

Early Shareholders

As early as 2016, Chinese giants such as Baidu, GoldStone Investment, CSC Financial, and CreditEase made strategic investments in Circle, becoming some of its earliest supporters. With mainstream adoption accelerating, early shareholders are also coming back into focus. Among them, GoldStone Investment has seen a gain of up to 38.8% in the past week, indicating that the market is already reacting to this potential windfall. Here are Circle's investors:

In addition, we have compiled some stablecoin-related Hong Kong-listed companies:

· ZhongAn Online: Its affiliate ZA Bank is the first local digital bank in Hong Kong to provide reserve services for stablecoin issuers.

· OSL Group: A licensed and compliant exchange that has collaborated with Ethena to launch a stablecoin yield product.

· Standard Chartered Group, PCCW: Teamed up with Animoca for stablecoin issuance and have applied for a Hong Kong version of the stablecoin license.

· LianLian Digital: Through LianLian International's cross-border stablecoin payment layout, its subsidiary DFX Labs previously obtained a Hong Kong VATP license.

Coinbase, Base

In 2018, Coinbase and Circle jointly launched the CENTRE Consortium and collaborated to launch the USDC stablecoin. Although CENTRE dissolved in 2023, making Circle the sole issuer of USDC, Coinbase retained a 50% revenue share of USDC and partial equity, keeping their relationship close.

Therefore, Circle's listing may not only directly benefit Coinbase (COIN) stock price, but its Ethereum Layer 2 network, Base, is also worth paying attention to. Base is a Layer 2 blockchain developed by Coinbase, and currently, stablecoins account for as much as 90% of the USDC in its network.

Associated Tokens

In addition to equity and industry chain-related reactions, some associated tokens may also experience synchronous price increases driven by market sentiment. For example, MKR, as the core token of the MakerDAO (now renamed Sky) ecosystem, with a high proportion of USDC in its underlying collateral assets, is expected to see a price increase driven by the positive impact of Circle. Overall, stablecoin projects and leading DeFi projects are likely to be beneficiaries of this round of market trends.

Furthermore, the following tokens are also worth paying attention to:

· ENA: A popular target in the stablecoin narrative

· ONDO: BlackRock announced a 10% subscription to Circle's IPO shares, and Ondo's issuance of the US Treasury bond token OUSG is based on BlackRock's BUIDL Fund's core underlying assets.

· CRV: Curve is a major venue for various stablecoin transactions, and USDC is one of the core assets in Curve's liquidity pool.

USDC now has a new valuation benchmark, and Circle has resonated with the capital markets. Circle's IPO is not only a milestone for the "first stablecoin stock" but also opens up a real and visible imagination space for the future of stablecoins.

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