Stablecoin issuer Circle made a strong entry into the public market on June 5, with its shares climbing 167% on its first trading session on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
Under the CRCL ticker, Circle’s shares opened at $31, surging 235% in the first hours of negotiation before closing at $82 at the end of the day. The company’s performance hints at a growing market appetite for stablecoin businesses.
The oversubscribed round had some significant tailwinds. On May 28, the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, revealed it was eyeing a 10% stake in the IPO. Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment was reportedly interested in buying $150 million worth of shares of the offering.
The demand led Circle to boost its offer to a marketed range of $1.05 billion, with 34 million shares available to investors.
Circle is behind the dollar-pegged stablecoin USDC (USDC). The company has been working on the offer for the past few months, but ultimately delayed plans citing macroeconomic uncertainty caused by ongoing trade wars.
Related: USDC issuer Circle debuts public trading on New York Stock Exchange
Arca executive criticizes Circle IPO
In a now-deleted X post, Arca Chief Investment Officer Jeff Dorman trashed the Circle IPO on June 5, criticizing the company for only granting Arca a $135,000 allocation in the initial public offering.
According to Dorman, Arca is one of Circle’s earliest backers. “Most of us stick together and help each other,” the letter read, adding that:
“I cannot believe our efforts to help you grow for years culminated in you giving us a joke, throwaway allocation. You are the first and only crypto company that has ever treated Arca this way.”
“Most of Arca’s management team left Wall Street eight years ago to start a crypto-native company specifically to get away from TradFi clowns like you,” Dorman continued. “Ironically, you’ve come full Circle.”
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