Circle Internet Financial, the company behind the USDC stablecoin, priced its June 5 IPO at $31 a share after multiple upsizes, raising about $1.1 billion. The stock opened at $69, was halted for volatility twice, and closed its first session at $83.23—an eye-watering 168 % pop that put the company’s market value above $18 billion. It was the strongest first-day performance for any U.S. listing since 2021 and the largest ever for a crypto-native firm.

The rally rolls on

Momentum hardly cooled after the bell. Shares jumped another 48% on Friday, touching $123.49 and pushing Circle’s fully diluted valuation to roughly $32 billion. By Monday they flirted with $138.57 intraday before settling back, bringing the three-day gain to more than 340% from the offer price. Renaissance Capital strategist Matt Kennedy called the deal “big enough that it extends beyond crypto,” while NYSE president Lynn Martin hailed it as a bellwether for the entire 2025 IPO pipeline.

Appetite—and underpricing

Fortune estimates the company “left about $1.7 billion on the table,” ranking Circle’s deal among the seven biggest underpricings in four decades. Bankers defend the decision, noting books were reportedly 25-times oversubscribed and that a gentler valuation helped avoid a repeat of the post-listing hangovers that plagued several 2021-era tech IPOs. Either way, the trading frenzy underscores resurgent risk appetite for growth names after two years of rate-driven caution.

What Wall Street is really buying

Unlike bitcoin miners or crypto exchanges, Circle earns the bulk of its revenue from interest on the cash and Treasuries that back USDC. With short-term yields still above 4%, the reserves spun off $1.7 billion in 2024 revenue, though net income slipped as distribution costs grew. Investors appear comfortable paying up for that predictable cash-flow stream—and for Circle’s regulatory posture. Blue-chip underwriters (Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Citi) on the cover signal that stablecoins are no longer off-limits to traditional finance.

A milestone for stablecoins’ coming-of-age

Circle is now the first U.S.-listed pure-play stablecoin issuer, a status that forces quarterly SEC reporting and Sarbanes-Oxley audits. That transparency addresses a long-running complaint that stablecoins lack daylight into their reserves and governance. Analysts say the listing could accelerate policy work already under way: the GENIUS Act in the Senate and a patchwork of state bills seek to formalize standards for fiat-backed tokens, while global frameworks such as Europe’s MiCA enter force next year.

More practically, corporates that were uneasy about holding privately issued digital dollars now have a ticker they can diligence. Payments rails, fintech apps and even regional banks experimenting with blockchain settlement gain a publicly tracked counterparty. In short, USDC just became the most transparent dollar on the internet.

Risks on the horizon

None of this guarantees smooth sailing. Circle still trails Tether’s USDT in circulation, faces fee compression if rates fall, and could meet fresh competition from bank-issued stablecoins. Yet its blockbuster debut suggests capital markets believe a regulated tokenized-dollar business can scale—and that crypto’s infrastructure phase has arrived.

For the broader market, the takeaway is clear: the conversation has shifted from whether stablecoins have a future to how fast they will reshape money movement.