Corrected: UPDATE 2-Circle revenue boosted as stablecoin demand rises amid volatility; shares up (May 11)
11/05/2026 11:36
(In May 11 story, corrects CFO name in paragraph 9 to Jeremy
Fox-Geen, not Fox-Green)
By Pritam Biswas
May 11 (Reuters) - Circle CRCL.N reported higher quarterly
revenue and reserve income on Monday, driven by increased
adoption and circulation of its stablecoin, pushing its shares
2% higher in early trading.
Market volatility and the Middle East conflict pushed
investors to rotate out of risky cryptocurrencies and into
stablecoins to park capital earlier this year.
This was underscored by cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase's
COIN.O results last week, which reported dropping trading
volumes. Coinbase has a strategic partnership with Circle.
The rollout of Europe's MiCA framework and the passing of
the U.S. GENIUS Act, which provide a clear legal framework for
digital assets, boosted the adoption of USDC, Circle's flagship
stablecoin and the world's second-largest by market value after
Tether.
Circulation of USDC rose 28% from a year earlier to $77
billion at the end of the first quarter. Total revenue and
reserve income grew 20% to $694 million.
"From a long-term perspective, it's tough to be bearish on
Circle Group," said Andrew Rocco, stock strategist at Zacks
Investment Research.
Wall Street expects stablecoins to become one of the biggest
themes within finance in the coming years and the next
multi-trillion-dollar market opportunity.
Interest-rate cuts late in 2025 also benefited the company,
as Circle invests the cash backing its tokens in bank deposits
and short-dated U.S. Treasuries, earning interest on those
holdings. As a result, its income is highly sensitive to policy
changes by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
"Rates have cycles, and we are building a company that's
going to be living through many rate cycles," CFO Jeremy
Fox-Geen said in an interview with Reuters, when asked about the
potential future impact of monetary policy easing.
The firm went public in a stellar debut on the New York
Stock Exchange last year, paving the way for similar companies
to test their luck in the public markets.
Circle's shares closed at $113.67 on Friday, up about 43%
year to date and more than three times their IPO price of $31.
(Reporting by Pritam Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja
Desai)
((Pritam.Biswas@thomsonreuters.com;))