Circle, a stablecoin issuer, has emerged as one of the most watched stocks in the cryptocurrency market after its shares surged more than 100% in a month. It is an unusual trend, with a stablecoin operator traditionally associated with stability posting the highest returns.

CoinDesk reported on March 16 that Circle shares more than doubled over the past month and rose about 8% on Monday to $124.37. That far outpaces gains of about 23% for Strategy and about 8.5% for Coinbase over the same period.

The rise is also being reinforced by positive assessments on Wall Street. Investment bank ClearStreet upgraded Circle to "buy" and raised its price target to $136, while Mizuho also lifted its target to $120. Compass Point analyst Ed Engel (Ed Engel), who had maintained a pessimistic stance, changed his rating to "neutral" from "sell". The most optimistic view came from Seaport Global, which set a $280 target.

Behind Circle's surge is a structural change in the digital asset market. The company's core product, USD Coin (USDC), is a dollar-pegged stablecoin and has established itself as infrastructure that can quickly handle global payments and asset transfers.

Stablecoins are drawing investor attention because demand holds up regardless of market volatility. Since October 2025, USDC's market capitalisation has shown a relatively stable trend even as the total cryptocurrency market capitalisation fell by about 44%.

Another growth driver is the tokenised finance market. ClearStreet said the tokenised asset market grew rapidly from $1.5 billion in early 2023 to about $26.5 billion now. BlackRock's tokenised fund, BUIDL, also grew by more than $2 billion since launch, demonstrating related demand.

The combination of artificial intelligence and the payments market is also acting as a positive for Circle. Prediction-market platform Polymarket processed about $22 billion of transactions last year, with most settled in USDC. Stablecoins are also being used as a core payment method in AI agent-based commerce, and about 98% of AI-related payments are being processed in USDC, it was reported.

The macro environment is also positive. With expectations for rate cuts delayed by rising tensions in the Middle East and higher oil prices, expectations are growing for higher interest income from Circle's reserves. That is strengthening the profitability of the stablecoin business model.

On the regulatory side, favourable changes are also being detected. Expectations for passage of related legislation are rising after U.S. President Donald Trump backed the CLARITY bill aimed at clarifying digital asset regulation. This is being assessed as a factor that could spur inflows from institutional investors.

In the market, analysis is emerging that a paradigm shift is becoming clear as a company based on the most stable assets is transforming into the fastest-growing stock.