TechFlow News, March 11: According to a CoinDesk report, Bernstein’s team has assigned Circle (CRCL), the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, an “Outperform” rating, with a target price of $190—representing approximately 60% upside from its current level of $120.
Bernstein notes that stablecoin adoption is decoupling from the broader crypto market cycle. Despite the ongoing bear market, Circle’s USDC supply has rebounded to nearly $78 billion—a near all-time high—while the total market capitalization of USD-pegged stablecoins remains around $270 billion. Adjusted stablecoin transaction volume has grown year-on-year by over 90%, and faster transaction speeds indicate increasing use beyond crypto trading into broader real-world applications.
The report highlights payment adoption as a key growth driver. Visa currently supports over 130 stablecoin-linked cards across 50 countries, with an annualized settlement volume of approximately $4.6 billion. Circle’s Payments Network now serves roughly 55 institutions, achieving an annualized transaction volume of $5.7 billion. Additionally, Bernstein identifies AI-powered “agent finance” as a potential new growth theme; Circle is building Arc, a high-throughput payment blockchain, to support this vision.
