Circle’s shares spike 168% in NYSE debut — valuing crypto giant at over $18B

Crypto giant Circle Internet Group’s stock surged 168% above their initial offer price on Thursday in a major boost to an IPO market that had stagnated in recent months.

Shares of Circle, which moved to New York from Boston last year and is led by CEO Jeremy Allaire, opened at $69 and closed at $83.23. That pushed the company’s valuation to $18.36 billion. It is the second-largest public listing by a crypto firm.

The strong projected debut came after Circle priced its IPO at $31 per share after the market closed on Wednesday – up from an earlier expected range of $27 to $28 per share.

Circle is best known as the issuer of USD Coin (USDC), which is pegged one-for-one to the US dollar. USDC is the world’s second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization, trailing only Tether’s USDT, according to data from CoinMarketCap.com.

The firm earlier said it will raise about $1.1 billion on an offering of 34 million shares.

Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency with value directly pegged to a “stable” asset, like the US dollar or gold. They are seen as a less volatile investment option than cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, which can experience major price swings during periods of market instability.

Circle will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “CRCL.” The IPO is led by JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup.

ARK Investment Management, the firm led by famed tech investor Cathie Wood, has signaled interest in buying up to $150 million in shares, according to a regulatory filing.

The successful debut could nudge other crypto companies to explore IPOs.

“The more crypto companies that go public, the easier it will be for future crypto companies,” Matt Kennedy, senior strategist at Renaissance Capital, told Reuters.

Stablecoins and other types of cryptocurrency have boomed in popularity in recent months following President Trump’s election victory.

Trump, who won the White House with the backing of many major crypto executives, has vowed to loosen the strict regulatory policy adopted under former President Joe Biden.

Last month, the US Senate voted to advance the GENUIS Act, which would establish a first-of-its-kind regulatory framework for stablecoins. A different version of a stablecoin bill is up for consideration in the House.