Circle Receives Market Perform Rating as Citizens Launches Coverage, Citing Stablecoin Expansion

Citizens Initiates Coverage on Circle With Market Perform Rating

U.S. bank Citizens has launched coverage of Circle Internet (CRCL), assigning a market perform rating, highlighting the company’s strong positioning in the growing stablecoin sector but noting that its valuation already reflects much of the upside potential.

Circle, issuer of USDC (the world’s second-largest dollar-pegged stablecoin) and EURC, has built a robust infrastructure including a payments network, cross-chain protocol, and programmable wallets. The company is also developing Arc, a layer-1 blockchain aimed at enabling programmable money for payments, trading, and tokenization—seen by Citizens as central to the evolution of the stablecoin ecosystem.

Analysts led by Devin Ryan note that stablecoins are at an inflection point, with total market capitalization projected to grow from $300 billion today to $3 trillion by 2030, driven by regulatory clarity under the GENIUS Act in the U.S., Europe’s MiCA, and other frameworks. USDC circulation has doubled year-over-year to roughly $74 billion, fully backed by cash and treasuries, giving Circle a strong compliance and trust advantage.

Circle is well-capitalized, with over $1 billion in cash after its June IPO and follow-on offering, supporting potential investments and acquisitions. At $133 per share, the stock trades at premium multiples—39x EV/2026E and 23x EV/2027E EBITDA—reflecting leadership but leaving limited upside unless adoption or monetization accelerates.

Key factors to watch include USDC growth, margin expansion, fee revenue, and sensitivity to yields. Upcoming catalysts include new payment corridors, enterprise partnerships, Arc’s testnet, and MiCA implementation, while risks from yield compression, Coinbase distribution, competition, and regulation are considered manageable.

Circle shares traded up to $134.40 in early session trading.