Hey, readers. We’ve got an extra special edition today, especially for those who haven’t done all their homework on Circle’s IPO. Katherine Ross from the Empire newsletter rounds out the stablecoin issuer’s debut on the NYSE, industry execs’ thoughts and a picture of the upcoming landscape. Let’s get into it!

Circle’s NYSE debut

Put away X for a second — it’s time for a detox from the drama. 

Let’s talk about Circle.

The stablecoin issuer finally debuted on the New York Stock Exchange today, jumping as high as $103 before closing around $83. Quite a ride if you were watching it in real time, but if you weren’t, it closed up over 160% after pricing at $31 last night. 

While the demand was pretty hefty, I wrote this morning that the bankers on Circle’s deal were cautious to keep the stock’s price at a level where it can’t take off and then come crashing down to earth…which is a bit of what happened with Coinbase (the stock hit $429 before closing below its opening price of $328). 

Now, Coinbase went through a direct listing while Circle IPO’d, but the two are tied in that they’re both “crypto” to the non-professional eye.

What was clear today was that retail was just as interested as institutions (ICYMI: Bloomberg reported that the offering was 20x oversubscribed earlier this week). 

As my colleague (and Forward Guidance newsletter author) Ben Strack wrote: It makes sense for folks to be interested in both COIN and CRCL. 

“Coinbase is the Amazon of crypto — trading, derivatives, custody, staking and, of course, stablecoins,” Bitwise’s Ryan Rasmussen told Strack. “Circle now offers pure-play exposure to stablecoins. I suspect investors will want both in their portfolios.”

“With stablecoin legislation likely to pass this year, that growth is only going to accelerate. So, they smash the buy button on Circle.”

And Bitwise’s Katherine Dowling told me that it’s a testing of the waters for crypto firms. And based on the performance of the stock’s first day, I’m sure others are mulling their options to go public…when the time’s right. 

It’s a point that GSR’s Carlos Guzman seems to agree on. He told Strack: “With this IPO surpassing everyone’s expectations, we’ll likely see greater institutional and retail attention directed toward crypto and stablecoins, along with more crypto companies looking to go public.”

For Circle, though, the timing was perhaps as perfect as an IPO can get. 

Dowling noted that Circle is just a sign of the evolution we’re seeing in crypto and marks how far we’ve come. Especially taking into account that Circle confidentially filed its initial S-1 back in January 2024. 

“The importance of that evolution is notable…because it’s not just as simple as, ‘we had an administration change, so now we’re pro-crypto.’ It really isn’t just about that. You’ve had people…both sides of the aisle, have a much greater understanding of what [stablecoins are], how they work, and that this is a technological change, and I think that’s been really helpful to that evolution and [getting to] where we are today,” she said.

“We’ve come such a long way from the Luna debacle, right?” Dowling said. And if nothing else puts this historical moment into perspective, perhaps that will. 

— Katherine Ross

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