Circle Listing: A Milestone Event in the encryption Industry

The issuer of the world's second-largest stablecoin USDC, Circle, was officially listed on the New York Stock Exchange last Thursday night. USDC currently occupies about 25% of the stablecoin market share. Circle's stock performed well on its first day of trading, soaring 168.48% from the issuance price of $31 to close at $83.23, with a market capitalization briefly exceeding $18.5 billion. The next day, Circle's stock continued to rise by nearly 30%.

Currently, the total market capitalization of stablecoins has exceeded 250 billion dollars, with USDT and USDC together accounting for 86% of the market share. In the lead-up to Circle's listing, multiple adjustments to the opening price have reflected that market enthusiasm far exceeds expectations.

The listing of Circle has kept the concept of "stablecoin" in the financial headlines for several days, allowing more traditional finance professionals to reassess the value of stablecoins. At the same time, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government officially announced that the "Stablecoin Regulation" will come into effect on August 1, 2025, and the U.S. GENIUS stablecoin bill is also in progress. These factors have collectively driven the popularity of stablecoins in the financial market.

Looking back at the last bull market cycle four years ago, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States successfully went public on NASDAQ, with a market value exceeding $112 billion on its first day of trading. Although it subsequently went through more than two years of adjustment, its successful listing highlighted the potential of emerging financial markets to traditional financial markets, paving the way for the development of BTC ETFs and various reserve assets.

Similarly, Circle's listing is significant as it brings stablecoins into the mainstream spotlight, gaining favor from some traditional funds. Demonstrating financial capability and company transparency through the listing is crucial for the long-term development of stablecoins. Circle's co-founder stated that the IPO will bring more trust, compliance, and transparency to its regulated stablecoin network and help establish partnerships with other financial institutions.

Although stablecoins deviate from Satoshi Nakamoto's original ideal of decentralization to some extent, they do indeed leverage the advantages of blockchain technology. According to the latest report from a well-known investment institution, the trading volume of stablecoins has reached $33 trillion in the past 12 months, far exceeding the trading volumes of PayPal and Visa.

Compared to the traditional payment market's scale of one hundred trillion dollars, the stablecoin market still has huge growth potential. In the next 3-5 years, stablecoins are expected to become a single market worth a trillion dollars. Circle's listing has brought a naming effect for stablecoins, and this may just be the beginning. As the most mature application in the encryption industry aside from trading, stablecoins may become the key to driving the large-scale adoption of Web3/encryption applications.

For investors and entrepreneurs, the stablecoin sector holds enormous opportunities. Whether participating in financial innovation or providing related services, this field is full of potential. However, opportunities come with risks, and careful assessment is required.

What will Circle's market value be in four years? The answer to this question may surprise us.