Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, ended Nasdaq trading on April 9 down 9.9 percent at $85.10. Cointelegraph reported that investor sentiment weakened as a Wall Street downgrade coincided with a legal review surrounding the Drift Protocol hacking case.

One direct trigger for the drop was a change in rating by U.S. investment bank Compass Point. Compass Point cut Circle to “sell” from “neutral” and set a target price of $77. It judged there was room for a further decline of about 9 percent from the current share price.

Circle shares are down about 24 percent over the past month and about 43 percent over the past six months. Volatility has continued since last year’s listing, and this pullback is also seen as the result of profit-taking after a recent surge. Circle shares rose sharply between February and March on expectations of wider stablecoin adoption.

Market assessments are not uniformly negative. Global investment bank Bernstein viewed those concerns as “excessive.” It also said Circle’s core business is not affected and that wider USDC adoption and reserve income continue.

Pressure on Circle has not been limited to internal stock market factors. In the United States, discussions have made little progress on the CLARITY Act, a crypto market structure bill. Banking industry groups are continuing lobbying against stablecoin interest payments. Uncertainty over the regulatory direction has weighed on listed crypto-related shares such as Circle.

A $280 million hack of the decentralised exchange Drift Protocol has also heightened uncertainty. A notice distributed this week said affected investors were instructed to contact Oakland, California-based law firm Gibbs Mura to review the possibility of recovering losses. That suggests an early-stage review of potential class-action litigation around the incident has begun. Circle was not directly involved in the hack, but after the incident the market again highlighted concerns over risks and system stability on decentralised finance platforms. Such anxiety could spread across listed crypto-linked stocks more broadly.

The fact that the hacker moved stolen assets into USDC also drew attention. Speculation emerged over whether Circle could have frozen the funds, but no such action was taken. That has further fuelled controversy over USDC exposure and the issuer’s role.

Circle’s share performance shows a phase in which expectations for wider stablecoin adoption alone are hard to rely on for support. With regulatory uncertainty, fallout from DeFi incidents and conservative valuations for listed firms acting at the same time, the market is watching whether wider USDC adoption can offset downward pressure on the stock.