New York, March 4, 2026, 18:41 EST
- Circle shares rose for a third straight session, closing at $105.27
- Mizuho lifted its target to $100, citing inflation risk and fewer odds of rate cuts
- A Circle officer filed a notice for a planned share sale, a securities filing showed
Circle Internet Group, Inc. shares rose 5.7% on Wednesday to close at $105.27, their third straight day of gains. The stock is up about 10% since Monday’s close. 1
Mizuho Securities lifted its target price on the stock to $100 from $90 and kept a neutral rating, tying the call to the risk that higher oil prices keep inflation sticky. “Rising oil prices could drive up inflation, lowering the odds of rate cuts,” analyst Dan Dolev said, while CEO Jeremy Allaire described the quarter as “another step forward” for the company. 2
The move matters because Circle’s core business still leans on reserve income from USDC, a “stablecoin” — a cryptocurrency designed to hold a steady value by tracking the U.S. dollar. Circle’s website showed $75.8 billion of USDC in circulation as of March 2, with reserves described as cash and cash-equivalent assets. 3
A Circle officer, Hossein Razzaghi, filed a Form 144 on Tuesday to sell up to 43,119 Class A shares, with the filing listing an aggregate value of about $4.31 million. A Form 144 is a notice insiders file with the U.S. securities regulator when they plan to sell restricted or “control” securities. 4
Some of the bullish talk has shifted from crypto prices to payments plumbing. “USDC isn’t a crypto bet anymore,” Pav Hundal, lead analyst at Australian crypto exchange Swyftx, told Decrypt, arguing that investors increasingly see stablecoins as payment rails; “agentics” refers to software agents that carry out tasks automatically. 5
Circle’s rally took off after it topped Wall Street expectations for fourth-quarter revenue, helped by higher USDC circulation and a jump in reserve income, Reuters reported last week. Seaport Research Partners analyst Jeff Cantwell called USDC “scaling rapidly,” and Circle has said it invests the cash backing tokens in deposits and short-dated U.S. Treasuries. 6
The regulatory frame is still settling. A Reuters Breakingviews column in February noted that the 2025 Genius Act bars stablecoin issuers from paying interest directly to holders, even as platforms like Coinbase have built yield-style reward programs around USDC balances. 7
Circle competes in a crowded stablecoin market led by Tether’s USDT, with banks and payments firms pushing their own digital-dollar ideas and pressing lawmakers over how stablecoin rewards should be treated.
But the trade can turn fast. If inflation cools and the Federal Reserve moves toward rate cuts, the interest income tied to Circle’s reserves could shrink, and tighter rules around rewards could blunt demand from big distributors. Insider sale plans can also add selling pressure when a stock is already moving hard.
Investors are also watching disclosures around the reserves themselves. Circle says it publishes weekly reserve breakdowns and monthly third‑party assurance reports, and it describes part of the reserve as held in Treasuries and overnight repo, including via a BlackRock-managed money market fund structure. 8
