Samuel O'Brient
4 min read
Tech IPO smash reveals something shocking originally appeared on TheStreet.
Last week, a company that most people outside of the crypto field hadn’t heard of became the toast of Wall Street.
Circle Internet Group (CRCL) , typically referred to as Circle, is a peer-to-peer digital payments company, but it's best known for issuing the Stabecoin, a digital asset whose value is pegged to the U.S. dollar. The newly minted stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on June 5, quickly catching the attention of many investors.
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The market hasn’t seen too many tech initial public offerings (IPOs) so far this year, with the exception of artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing startup CoreWeave (CRWV) , which began trading in March. The new stock has enjoyed significant growth and has remained in the spotlight as the year’s top tech IPO.
Now it has a competitor, in the form of a popular fintech platform operating in a fairly niche market.
The new CRCL stock didn’t take very long to start surging after markets opened on June 5. It quickly began trending upward, and by the end of the trading day, it had skyrocketed 168%, raising almost $1.1 billion as part of its IPO.
Related: Heavily shorted AI stock is rapidly climbing the Fortune 500
Shares kept surging on the following day, and the new standout fintech stock closed out trading up almost 30%, trading at more than $107 per share after opening at $69 during its debut. Given the expected range for the week of $27-$28, this performance is highly encouraging as investors hunt for the next breakout tech stock.
As a stablecoin issuer, Circle is considered a pure-play crypto stock, putting it in the same category as companies such as Riot Blockchain and MARA Holdings, both of which have risen significantly over the past month. The Trump administration’s pro-crypto stance has put these names in the spotlight as some investors turn more bullish.
Circle issues stablecoins, a certain type of digital asset created to make it more practical for investors to transact with crypto. As a report from Fidelity summarizes:
“Stablecoin advocates believe these cryptocurrencies are critical for bridging 'real-world' assets like fiat currencies with digital assets on the blockchain. Others are skeptical, noting that they've played major roles in the collapse of several cryptocurrencies and crypto institutions.”
It's true stablecoins carry risk that may make some investors nervous. But the success of the Circle IPO suggests that sentiment toward them is shifting in a positive direction. More than that, it indicates that Wall Street may be starting to regard Stablecoins more seriously.
