Làn sóng stablecoin, "Tài chính đại lý AI" hỗ trợ! Bernstein dự đoán cổ phiếu Circle sẽ tăng thêm 60%

Stablecoin USDC issuer Circle (NASDAQ: CRCL) has recently experienced a strong rally, but the good news 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 analysis team rates Circle as “Outperform,” with a target price of $190. At the current price of around $120, this implies that Circle still has about 60% upside potential.

It is worth noting that, driven by impressive financial results and the subsequent “short squeeze,” Circle has surged over 100% in recent weeks, but analysts remain bullish.
Circle demonstrates an “independent rally”: the development of stablecoins is decoupling from “cryptocurrency market volatility.”
Bernstein’s core argument is that: the cycle of stablecoins and the broader cryptocurrency market are increasingly out of sync, 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, the cryptocurrency market saw USDC supply temporarily decline, but it has now rebounded strongly, approaching a historic peak of $78 billion; in contrast, Bitcoin and the overall crypto market are still some distance from 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 being used beyond just crypto trading.
Bernstein analyzes that, the biggest driver of this trend is the “mainstream adoption of stablecoin payments,” which are rapidly integrating with traditional credit card networks to become 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 an annualized settlement amount of about $4.6 billion.
Meanwhile, Circle is actively expanding its “Circle Payments Network,” which allows institutional clients to make low-cost cross-border remittances using USDC, and directly exchange into local fiat currencies through partner banks. The report notes that this network has already attracted about 55 institutions, with an annualized transaction volume reaching $5.7 billion earlier this year.
Preparing for the AI-powered financial 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.