Circle's IPO ignites the Capital Market, with stock price rising 168% on the first day.

Recently, Circle, a leading company in the stablecoin sector, officially listed on the New York Stock Exchange, becoming another important player in the traditional Capital Market after several crypto-related companies. This milestone event not only brought significant attention to Circle but also provided substantial returns for its investors.

The performance on the first day of listing was impressive, triggering the circuit breaker mechanism multiple times.

Circle (stock code "CRCL") performed exceptionally strong on its first day of listing. Due to demand for subscriptions far exceeding expectations, the company raised the offering price to $31 and expanded the issuance scale to 34 million shares, with a total fundraising amount close to $1.1 billion. It is worth noting that the oversubscription rate for this IPO reached as high as 25 times.

After the market opened, the price of CRCL soared to over 100 dollars, triggering the circuit breaker mechanism multiple times. Finally, the stock closed at 83.23 dollars, up 168% from the issue price, with a total market value of 18.4 billion dollars and a trading volume exceeding 47.78 million shares, approximately 4.014 billion dollars.

Compared to the listing performance of other crypto-related companies, Circle's first-day rise was significantly ahead. From a market capitalization perspective, although it is not as high as certain large trading platforms, it has surpassed several similar companies.

Traditional institutions are highly sought after, while the crypto community has mixed reactions

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire issued a statement at the time of the IPO, emphasizing that the company has been committed to building a trustworthy, transparent, and compliant enterprise since its inception. He stated that adhering to the high standards of regulation set by the New York Stock Exchange and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will further deepen Circle's commitment to these principles.

However, there are differing opinions within the industry regarding Circle's listing. Some competitors question its profitability, believing that the strategy of embracing Wall Street is shortsighted. There are also analyses that suggest the strong performance of Circle's stock is mainly benefited from the current popularity of the stablecoin sector, as well as investors' previous undervaluation of this field.

Early investors reap substantial returns

The listing of Circle has brought considerable paper returns to its early investors. According to public data, Circle has completed 9 rounds of financing (including IPO) to date, with a total financing amount exceeding 2.2 billion USD. Below are the estimated return rates for some of the financing rounds:

• Series C (April 2015): 91.78 times
• Series D (May 2016): 43.7 times
• Series E (May 2018): 6.33 times
• $440 million private equity (May 2021): 4.48 times
• 400 million private equity (April 2022): 2.51 times
• IPO: 2.96 times

It is important to note that Circle has chosen the conventional IPO path, which means that its early investors, founding team, and employees' shares will typically face a "lock-up period" ranging from 90 to 180 days. This practice helps to prevent significant fluctuations in stock prices caused by concentrated cashing out in the short term, reflecting the company's emphasis on long-term development.