Circle (CRCL) Surges 120% to Six-Month High: Decoding the Post-Genius Act Valuation Shift

TradingKey - Circle has surged 126% in a month to over $130; Bernstein analysts believe it will continue to rise, with a price target of $190.

On Tuesday, March 17, Eastern Time, the leading stablecoin stock Circle ( CRCL) shares continued their rally, jumping over 5% and soaring to a high of $136, hitting a new high since October 2025. Over the past month, Circle's stock price has surged by a cumulative 126%, making it one of the top-performing stocks among crypto equities and the entire U.S. market.

Circle stock price chart, Source: TradingView

During the same period, other cryptocurrency-related stocks also saw gains, but they lagged far behind Circle. Among them, Coinbase ( COIN) rose by a cumulative 26%, SharpLink Gaming ( SBET) rose 24%, MARA Holdings ( MARA) rose 23%, Block ( XYZ) rose 17%, Strategy ( MSTR) rose 16%, Robinhood ( HOOD) rose 3%.

Why has Circle's stock price performed so strongly? In the view of analysts at William Blair, Circle's strength stems from three factors: macro conditions, the resilience of USDC's market share, and stablecoin infrastructure. William Blair noted, 'The market is beginning to recognize the potential of stablecoins as a core layer of global payment infrastructure. USDC could become one of the few dominant cross-border payment standards, benefiting from its liquidity, first-mover advantage, and cross-chain integration capabilities.'

Since 2024, the market capitalization of Circle's stablecoin, USDC, has risen steadily, currently approaching $80 billion and accounting for nearly 25% of all stablecoins. It maintains its position as the world's second-largest stablecoin, trailing only Tether's USDT. In fact, Circle's tokenized Treasuries cannot be ignored; its USYC fund has reached a size of $2.2 billion, surpassing BlackRock's BUIDL fund at $2 billion, and has become a leader in tokenized U.S. Treasuries.

USDC market cap changes, Source: DefiLlama

Circle is moving forward in giant strides. Its co-founder and CEO, Jeremy Allaire, announced on March 18 that Microsoft's head of business and products, Kirk Koenigsbauer, has officially joined the Circle board. They will work together to build Circle into one of the most important internet platform companies of this new era.

Despite the significant rally in Circle's stock price, Bernstein analysts believe the company's shares will continue to climb. They have set a price target of $190, implying an upside potential of over 40% from current levels.