On Thursday, Circle's stock (CRCL) experienced a dramatic surge in its initial public offering, with shares climbing as much as 200% during afternoon trading. This significant increase followed the stablecoin issuer's long-awaited debut on the public market.
Trading was temporarily halted multiple times throughout the day due to the high volatility as the stock rapidly gained value, opening at approximately $69 per share. The company had priced its IPO at $31 the previous night. At its peak, Circle's market capitalization exceeded $20 billion.
Circle is the issuer of the stablecoin USDC, which is backed by the U.S. dollar. At the end of the first quarter, there was $60 billion worth of USDC in circulation. The company's revenue and reserve income for the first three months of the year totaled $578.6 million, marking a 58.5% increase compared to the previous year.
The majority of Circle's revenue comes from "reserve income," generated from the cash backing USDC, held in banks or invested in Treasury bills. Circle's adjusted EBITA for the first quarter was $122.4 million. In 2021, the company initially planned to go public through a SPAC, but those plans were later abandoned.
Circle is the second-largest stablecoin issuer, trailing behind Tether, which has approximately $150 billion in circulation. The IPO occurred during a period of increased positivity in the cryptocurrency markets.