Circle Coverage Launched by Citizens With Market Perform Call on Stablecoin Momentum

Citizens Initiates Coverage on Circle With Market Perform Rating

U.S. bank Citizens has initiated coverage of Circle Internet (CRCL), assigning a market perform rating, citing strong positioning in the stablecoin sector but noting that much of the upside is already priced in.

Circle, issuer of the dollar-pegged USDC and euro-pegged EURC, offers a wide-ranging infrastructure suite including a payments network, cross-chain protocol, and programmable wallets. The company is also developing Arc, a layer-1 blockchain designed to expand programmable money applications in payments, trading, and tokenization.

Analysts highlight that stablecoins are at a growth inflection, with total market capitalization projected to climb from $300 billion today to $3 trillion by 2030, driven by regulatory clarity from the GENIUS Act in the U.S. and MiCA in Europe. USDC circulation has doubled year-over-year to roughly $74 billion, fully backed by cash and treasuries, giving Circle a compliance-focused advantage.

With over $1 billion in cash post-IPO, Circle has resources for investments and acquisitions. At $133 per share, valuation multiples of 39x EV/2026E and 23x EV/2027E EBITDA reflect leadership but limit immediate upside unless adoption or monetization accelerates.

Key factors include USDC growth, fee revenue expansion, enterprise partnerships, Arc testnet rollout, and regulatory developments, while risks from yield compression, Coinbase distribution, competition, and regulation remain manageable. Shares traded near $134.40 in early sessions.