GENIUS Act has helped Circle thrive during crypto meltdown
Like most companies in the crypto industry, Circle Internet Group (CRCL) has seen its stock tumble during what has been the most protracted downturn for digital assets since 2022.
In fact, following its blockbuster IPO in June of last year, the company has seen its shares plunge about 80% from their peak.
But it turns out that the drop in its share price belies the surging growth of its business, as investors are continuing to pour money into stablecoins even as they sell off bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Circle reported on Wednesday that its revenue for the fourth quarter came in at $770 million, beating Wall Street's expectation of just under $745 million. It was 77% higher than its revenue for the previous year's Q4.
Its earnings per share (EPS) came in at 43 cents a share, beating the consensus expectation of 16 cents a share.
The company had $75.3 billion of USDC in circulation at the end of 2025, up 72%. It's total USDC on-chain transaction volume in Q4 was $11.9 trillion, a massive 247% growth.
Circle's stock surged over 35% on Wednesday.
While the price of bitcoin has crashed nearly 50% since reaching its all-time high in October, and bringing most other tokens down with it, stablecoins could prove to be establishing themselves as more resilient to the volatility of the greater digital asset market.
“I would just say, broadly, banks, payments companies, tech firms and large enterprises around the world are leaning in and wanting to weave stablecoins into their product strategies,”Jeremy Allaire, co-founder and CEO of Circle, said on the company's earnings call.
Regulatory clarity brings in institutions
One significant development that has helped power USDC and the company's revenue growth has been passage of the GENIUS Act.
"GENIUS has absolutely continued to be a tailwind for our business, and I think the sector as a whole," Allaire said. "It has created this legal foundation for major institutions to come into this market."
The GENIUS Act, which was signed into law by President Trump in June, created the first-ever stablecoin regulation in the United States. The bill lays out rules for U.S. dollar-backed stablecoins, requiring one-to-one reserve backing in liquid assets like Treasuries and oversight by federal or state regulators.
At the time of its passage, analysts saw the GENIUS Act as one of the biggest catalysts yet for mass adoption.
“Stablecoins now present what I believe is the first credible opportunity to onboard a billion people into crypto,” said Daren Matsuoka, a data scientist at a16z’s crypto arm, said at the time.
Allaire noted that the impact of the legislation has not been limited to its business in the US.
“It’s also spilling over into international markets where international regulators are also saying, ‘Okay, well, we now need to kind of acknowledge GENIUS-compliant stablecoins as the good stablecoins' that could be allowed in their markets," he said. “That’s really strong from our perspective.”
Allaire also addressed the delay over passage of the CLARITY Act, which will establish a regulatory framework for the broader crypto market in the US. Central to the impasse has been the debate over whether stablecoin rewards should be permitted .
Although the GENIUS Act prohibits stablecoin issuers from offering interest on the assets, it does not explicitly ban crypto companies from offering rewards tied to their stablecoins, which the bank lobbyists call a 'loophole' that should be banned.
“My sense is that everybody wants to figure this out,” Allaire said. “There’s a lot in this for banks, capital markets, asset managers, the crypto industry as well.”
He said he is "cautiously optimistic" about the bill passing, adding "we do think that with the CLARITY Act, if it does come to pass on a bipartisan basis, is another significant unlock for building in this space."