Oleada de stablecoins, ¡el «financiamiento asistido por IA» ayuda! Bernstein espera que el precio de las acciones de Circle vuelva a subir un 60%

Stablecoin USDC issuer Circle (NASDAQ: CRCL) has recently experienced a strong surge in its stock price, but the best may still be ahead. A recent report by research and brokerage firm Bernstein indicates that, benefiting from the continued expansion of stablecoin demand and the rise of emerging AI-powered financial applications, Circle’s stock price could potentially rise another 60% in the future.
Led by Gautam Chhugani, the analyst team has given Circle an “Outperform” rating with a target price of $190. Based on the current price of around $120, this implies a potential upside of 60%.
It is worth noting that, driven by impressive financial results and the subsequent short squeeze, Circle has surged over 100% in recent weeks, yet analysts remain bullish.
Circle demonstrates an “independent rally”: stablecoin development decoupled from “cryptocurrency market volatility”
Bernstein’s core thesis is that: the cycle of stablecoins and the broader cryptocurrency market are increasingly diverging, even during periods of market volatility, the adoption of stablecoins remains resilient.
The report points out that, after experiencing liquidity shocks in October last year, USDC supply briefly declined but has now rebounded strongly, approaching a historic peak of $78 billion; in contrast, Bitcoin and the overall crypto market are still well below their all-time highs. Moreover, even in a crypto bear market, the total market cap of global USD stablecoins remains steady at around $270 billion.
On-chain trading activity is also accelerating rapidly. Data shows that, after adjustments, stablecoin trading volume has grown over 90% compared to the same period last year, and the “transaction velocity” — a measure of how frequently tokens are exchanged — has also increased, indicating that stablecoins are increasingly used beyond just crypto trading.
Bernstein analyzes that, the biggest driver of this trend is the widespread adoption of stablecoin payments. Stablecoins are rapidly integrating with traditional credit card networks, becoming a daily payment tool. For example, payment giant Visa (NASDAQ: V) currently supports over 130 stablecoin-linked credit cards in more than 50 countries worldwide, with annual settlement volumes reaching approximately $4.6 billion.
Meanwhile, Circle is actively expanding its “Circle Payments Network,” which allows institutional clients to use USDC for low-cost cross-border remittances and directly convert to local fiat currencies through partner banks. The report notes that this network has already attracted about 55 institutions, with annualized transaction volume reaching $5.7 billion earlier this year.
Preparing for the AI-powered financial agent era
Looking ahead, Bernstein highlights a highly promising emerging theme — AI-driven “agent finance.”
As autonomous AI agents frequently conduct transactions online, stablecoins are expected to become the underlying layer for “machine-to-machine” small-value payments, such as paying for API call fees or various automated service charges.