Circle is mispriced as stablecoins head toward a multi-trillion-dollar market. Investors are underestimating Circle’s opportunity, and the company could build out payments infrastructure as a major second business alongside stablecoin issuance.
Banks, consumer companies and other incumbents are preparing their own stablecoins, and Circle’s Arc blockchain could test whether the company can expand beyond issuing stablecoins into the infrastructure that moves them.
Ryan Rasmussen, Bitwise’s head of research, said investors are underestimating Circle’s opportunity as stablecoins move toward a multi-trillion-dollar market, framing the market expansion as the central reason Circle’s current valuation appears mispriced.
Rasmussen’s thesis emphasizes that the proliferation of stablecoins will increase reserve revenue tied to issuance, and he expands that view to include Circle’s potential to build out payments infrastructure that could operate as a major second business alongside its stablecoin operations.
He acknowledges that banks, consumer companies and other incumbents are preparing their own stablecoins, but he does not see those initiatives as a major threat to Circle’s prospects.
Rasmussen points to Circle’s Arc blockchain as a specific development that could test whether the company can successfully expand beyond issuing stablecoins and into the infrastructure that moves them, an outcome he treats as integral to his assessment of Circle’s underestimated opportunity.
Banks, consumer companies and other incumbents are preparing their own stablecoins. Ryan Rasmussen acknowledges that these incumbent initiatives represent part of the competitive environment around stablecoin issuance. These entrants include established financial and corporate players pursuing stablecoin projects.
Rasmussen does not view those incumbent initiatives as a major threat to Circle. He outlines Circle’s potential to build out payments infrastructure as a major second business alongside its stablecoin issuance. Rasmussen points to Circle’s Arc blockchain as a development that could test whether the company can expand beyond issuing stablecoins into the infrastructure that moves them.
Rasmussen characterizes investors as underestimating Circle’s opportunity as stablecoins move toward a multi-trillion-dollar market. He frames Circle’s positioning around both reserve revenue from issuance and the prospect of payments infrastructure expansion. This perspective places the competitive activity of banks and consumer companies in the context of limited threat to Circle.
Circle’s Arc blockchain could test whether the company can expand beyond issuing stablecoins into the infrastructure that moves them. Rasmussen’s thesis sees payments infrastructure becoming a major second business alongside stablecoin issuance. The Arc blockchain is presented as a specific development to evaluate whether Circle can successfully expand into that infrastructure. Rasmussen said investors are underestimating Circle’s opportunity as stablecoins move toward a multi-trillion-dollar market.
Arc’s role is described as a practical test of Circle’s ability to move beyond issuance and into payments infrastructure. Rasmussen places that test within his assessment of Circle’s positioning in the broader stablecoin market.
Investors are underestimating Circle’s opportunity as stablecoins move toward a multi-trillion-dollar market, and Circle could build out payments infrastructure as a major second business alongside stablecoin issuance. Banks, consumer companies and other incumbents are preparing their own stablecoins, but Rasmussen does not see those initiatives as a major threat to Circle, and Circle’s Arc blockchain could test whether the company can expand beyond issuing stablecoins into the infrastructure that moves them.
