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Tag: Circle Internet Group

  • Forget AI Stocks: This Stablecoin Provider Is the Utility Stock of Digital Assets

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    Circle Internet Group (NYSE: CRCL) is the world’s second-biggest stablecoin issuer. Price-wise, the company has had a rocky ride since its initial public offering (IPO) in June 2025. Initially priced at $31, Circle immediately jumped to $69 and soared to over $260 within weeks. As of Feb. 17, it is trading at around $62.

    Down 76% from its high, Circle’s performance does not compare well with top artificial intelligence (AI) stocks. Still, as investors start to fear AI overvaluation, this stablecoin provider is worth a closer look. Stablecoins — tokens that represent traditional currencies, such as the U.S. dollar — are soaring. Not only do they offer a meeting point for traditional finance and cryptocurrency, but they could also underpin AI agent payments. Here’s how Circle is building the payment infrastructure for the future.

    Will AI create the world’s first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an “Indispensable Monopoly” providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue »

    Image source: Getty Images.

    Circle Internet Group provides a compliant, audited stablecoin powerhouse as well as tokenization services. As more assets and transactions move on-chain, reputable providers will power that shift. Circle has partnerships with over 100 key players, including Visa, Deutsche Börse Group, and Itau. These position it to become the backbone of this emerging payment structure.

    There is now $73.6 billion of Circle’s USD Coin (CRYPTO: USDC) in circulation, up from $35.5 billion in the third quarter of 2024. Its biggest competitor, Tether (CRYPTO: USDT), is a long way ahead with $183.6 billion. However, Tether is complicated from a regulatory perspective as it has been dogged by questions over its reserves. Circle’s reserves, on the other hand, are verified by a third-party auditor, making it more attractive to businesses with compliance requirements.

    Another important aspect of Circle’s emerging infrastructure is that stablecoins are already supporting AI agents, which can perform tasks autonomously. Blockchain technology enables fast, low-cost transactions that can take place 24/7, making it ideal for the types of micropayments AI agents need to make. The programmable nature of some blockchains also helps — the code can set the conditions under which AI transactions might happen.

    Right now, a lot of Circle’s revenue comes from the interest it earns from its reserves. That totaled $740 million in Q3 2025, up 66% year over year. It has to keep funds in reserve for each stablecoin it issues, which makes for a solid income base. If stablecoin issuance soars, as many predict, that could significantly boost Circle’s yield-generating reserves.

    However, the company is also susceptible to falling interest rates, making diversification essential. Non-reserve revenue will be a key metric to watch when Circle reports its Q4 earnings on Feb. 25. It is already increasing its income from subscriptions, transactions, and services. In the future, fees from AI agent transactions could become a major revenue stream.

    Circle has long-term potential, but it isn’t yet a safe, defensive utility stock. It could face regulatory headwinds, its price is still closely connected to volatile cryptocurrency markets, and stablecoins remain relatively untested.

    Before you buy stock in Circle Internet Group, consider this:

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    Emma Newbery has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Visa. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

    Forget AI Stocks: This Stablecoin Provider Is the Utility Stock of Digital Assets was originally published by The Motley Fool

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  • US stocks rally to records on hopes for cuts to interest rates

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    NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market rallied to records on Tuesday after data suggested inflation across the country was a touch better last month than economists expected.

    The S&P 500 rose 1.1% to top its all-time high set two weeks ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 483 points, or 1.1%, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 1.4% to set its own record.

    Stocks got a lift from hopes that the better-than-expected inflation report will give the Federal Reserve leeway to cut interest rates at its next meeting in September.

    Lower rates would give a boost to investment prices and to the economy by making it cheaper for U.S. households and businesses to borrow to buy houses, cars or equipment. President Donald Trump has angrily been calling for cuts to help the economy, often insulting the Fed’s chair personally while doing so.

    AP AUDIO: Wall Street rises toward records on hopes for lower interest rates

    AP business correspondent Seth Sutel reports markets are leaning higher.

    But the Fed has been hesitant because of the possibility that Trump’s tariffs could make inflation much worse. Lowering rates would give inflation more fuel, potentially adding oxygen to a growing fire. That’s why Fed officials have said they wanted to see more data come in about inflation before moving.

    Tuesday’s report said U.S. consumers paid prices for groceries, gasoline and other costs of living that were overall 2.7% higher in July than a year earlier. That’s the same inflation rate as June’s, and it was below the 2.8% that economists expected.

    The report pushed traders on Wall Street to increase bets that the Fed will cut interest rates for the first time this year in September. They’re betting on a 94% chance of that, up from nearly 86% a day earlier, according to data from CME Group.

    The Fed will receive one more report on inflation, as well as one more on the U.S. job market, before its next meeting, which ends Sept. 17. The most recent jobs report was a stunner, coming in much weaker than economists expected.

    Some economists warn that more twists and turns in upcoming data could make the Fed’s upcoming decisions not so easy. Its twin goals are to get inflation to 2% while keeping the job market healthy. Helping one with interest rates, though, often means hurting the other.

    Even Tuesday’s better-than-expected inflation report had some discouraging undertones. An underlying measure of inflation, which economists say does a better job of predicting where inflation may be heading, hit its highest point since early this year, noted Gary Schlossberg, market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. That helped cause some up-and-down swings for Treasury yields in the bond market.

    “Eventually, tariffs can show up in varying degrees in consumer prices, but these one-off price increases don’t happen all at once,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management. “That will confound the Fed and economic commentators for months to come.”

    Other central banks around the world have been lowering interest rates, and Australia’s on Tuesday cut for the third time this year.

    On Wall Street, Intel’s stock rose 5.6% after Trump said its CEO has an “amazing story,” less than a week after he had demanded Lip-Bu Tan’s resignation.

    Circle Internet Group, the company behind the popular USDC cryptocurrency that tracks the U.S. dollar, climbed 1.3% despite reporting a larger loss for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It said its total revenue and reserve income grew 53% in its first quarter as a publicly traded company, which topped forecasts.

    On the losing side of Wall Street was Celanese, which sank 13.1% even though the chemical company delivered a better profit than expected. It said that customers in most of its markets continue to be challenged, and CEO Scott Richardson said that “the demand environment does not seem to be improving.”

    Cardinal Health dropped 7.2% despite likewise reporting a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Its revenue fell short of forecasts, and analysts said the market’s expectations were particularly high for the company after its stock had already soared 33.3% for the year coming into the day.

    Critics say the broad U.S. stock market is looking expensive after its surge from a bottom in April. That’s putting pressure on companies to deliver continued growth in profit.

    All told, the S&P 500 rose 72.31 points to 6,445.76. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 483.52 to 44,458.61, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 296.50 to 21,681.90.

    In stock markets abroad, indexes edged up in China after Trump signed an executive order late Monday that delayed hefty tariffs on the world’s second-largest economy by 90 days. The move was widely expected, and the hope is that it will clear the way for a possible deal to avert a dangerous trade war between the United States and China.

    Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 2.1%, and South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.5% for two of the world’s bigger moves.

    In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.28% from 4.27% late Monday.

    The yield on the two-year Treasury, which more closely tracks expectations for the Fed, fell to 3.73% from 3.76%.

    ___

    AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.

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