Clear Street lifts Circle PT to $152 after Mastercard deal for BVNK

Circle Internet

18/03/2026 10:22

** Clear Street raises stablecoin giant Circle Internet Group CRCL.N PT to $152 from $136, implying an 11.8% upside to stock's last close

** Brokerage says Mastercard's MA.N acquisition of stablecoin payments infrastructure firm BVNK is a validation of blockchain as a faster, cheaper, global, and 24x7 next-generation technology

** Adds tone from MA executives has shifted from skepticism around stablecoin use cases to optimism regarding blockchain scalability and expansion

** "MA's decision to acquire rather than build suggests that becoming a critical blockchain infrastructure provider is challenging. We are incrementally more confident in our upgrade thesis on CRCL as a trusted, regulatory-compliant infrastructure layer" - Clear Street's Owen Lau

** 13 of 27 brokerages rate the stock "buy" or higher, 13 "hold" and 1 "strong sell"; median PT $114.20 - data compiled by LSEG

** As of last close, CRCL stock up 66.8% YTD

 (Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru)

 ((ArasuKannagi.Basil@thomsonreuters.com;))