Shares of Circle (CRCL), the crypto company behind the USDC stablecoin (USDC), could add to its recent notable rise, according to analysts at brokerage Bernstein.
The team, led by Gautam Chhugani, rates the stock as Outperform with a price target of $190, suggesting an upside of around 60% from the current level of $120. And that’s after shares rose more than 100% in recent weeks following a surge in earnings, likely triggering a brief squeeze.
Bernstein’s thesis centers on stablecoin adoption moving further and further away from the broader crypto market.
Circle’s USDC supply briefly fell after October’s liquidity shock to crypto markets, but has since recovered to just shy of its record $78 billion, even as bitcoin and crypto markets overall remain well below their highs. The total market for US dollar-backed stablecoins also remained stable at around $270 billion despite the cryptocurrency bear market, the report notes.
Transactional activity is also accelerating, the report notes. Adjusted stablecoin volumes grew more than 90% year-over-year, while transaction speed (a measure of how frequently tokens change hands) has increased, suggesting that stablecoins are increasingly being used beyond cryptocurrency trading.
Payments adoption is a key factor behind this, Bernstein said, as stablecoins increasingly integrate into traditional card networks, enabling everyday transactions. Visa (V), for example, now supports more than 130 stablecoin-linked cards in 50 countries, processing approximately $4.6 billion in annualized settlement volume, the report noted.
Circle is also expanding its Circle Payments Network, which allows institutions to send USDC abroad and convert it into local currencies through banking partners. The network now includes about 55 institutions, with annualized volumes reaching $5.7 billion earlier this year, according to the report.
Looking ahead, Bernstein also highlighted a potential new growth theme: AI-powered “agency finance.” As autonomous software agents conduct more and more transactions online, stablecoins could become a natural payment avenue for machine-to-machine micropayments, such as API calls or automated services.
To support that vision, Circle is building a high-performance, payments-focused blockchain called Arc, designed for fast, low-cost transactions.
Read more: Why Circle and Stripe (and many others) are launching their own blockchains
