Stablecoin issuer Circle appears set to deepen its role in decentralized finance by preparing a native launch of USD Coin (USDC) on Hyperliquid’s Layer 1 chain, HyperEVM.

On Sept. 12, blockchain researcher MLM Blockchain flagged test transactions involving USDC on HyperEVM’s mainnet, suggesting that a native deployment could roll out in the coming weeks.

Adding to speculation, the same wallet connected to Circle recently acquired about $5 million worth of Hyperliquid’s HYPE token.

The purchase reinforced the view that Circle is positioning itself more deeply in the Hyperliquid ecosystem. If the launch goes live, HyperEVM would join 24 other networks that already support USDC, including Ethereum, Solana, and the XRP Ledger.

Circle’s USDC is the second-largest stablecoin in the industry, with a market capitalization of more than $72 billion. Hyperliquid, on the other hand, is the dominant decentralized perpetual exchange, controlling more than 60% of the market.

USDC situation on Hyperliquid

The potential launch follows a public statement from Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire, who wrote that the company intends to be “a major player and contributor” within the Hyperliquid ecosystem.

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According to him:

“We are coming to the HYPE ecosystem in a big way. We intend to be a major player and contributor to the ecosystem. Happy to see others purchase new USD tickers and compete Hyper fast native USDC with deep and nearly instant cross chain interoperability will be well received.”

Yet Circle’s push comes as Hyperliquid prepares to introduce its native stablecoin, USDH. That project has drawn attention from major players such as Native Market, Paxos, OpenEden, and Agora, signaling a real challenge to Circle’s position.

Over the past year, Hyperliquid has relied heavily on Circle’s stablecoin to power its markets, with around $5.773 billion in USDC supply on the platform. That concentration means Hyperliquid accounts for roughly 8% of all USDC in circulation, making it one of Circle’s most dominant chains, according to DeFiLlama data.

So, should liquidity migrate to USDH, Circle could lose as much as $200 million in annual revenue, which might impact its business.

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The stablecoin market is once again in the spotlight after Tether minted another $1 billion USDT just a few hours ago. This fresh injection of liquidity comes at a time when the crypto market is entering a volatile phase, with uncertainty surrounding both macroeconomic conditions and investor sentiment. Bitcoin and altcoins are beginning to show shifting dynamics, and stablecoin issuers like Tether and Circle are emerging as critical players in shaping these movements.

Large mints from Tether have historically coincided with aggressive price swings across the crypto market, as the arrival of new liquidity often fuels increased trading activity. Whether this supply is immediately deployed or gradually filters into exchanges, the effect on market psychology is significant. Traders and investors frequently view such events as early signals of potential inflows into risk assets.

With Bitcoin consolidating near key levels and altcoins attempting to recover from recent corrections, the timing of this mint underscores the importance of stablecoins in the broader ecosystem. As liquidity expands, the coming days could see heightened volatility, with the possibility of strong directional moves. For now, all eyes are on how this $1 billion issuance will ripple across the crypto landscape.

Tether and Circle Add Liquidity Into The Market

According to data from Lookonchain, Tether and Circle have minted a combined $12.75 billion in stablecoins over the past month, marking one of the most significant liquidity injections in recent cycles. This expansion underscores the crucial role stablecoins play in the crypto ecosystem, acting as the backbone of trading activity and serving as a bridge for capital flowing into risk assets.

The timing of this surge is notable. Bitcoin and Ethereum are consolidating near critical levels, and altcoins are beginning to show signs of renewed momentum. Historically, large stablecoin mints have preceded uptrends in crypto markets, as fresh liquidity provides the fuel for traders and institutions to deploy capital more aggressively. The $12.75B increase, therefore, reflects more than just stablecoin supply growth—it signals a market preparing for potential expansion.

Still, risks remain elevated. Some analysts caution that the broader economic environment is highly unpredictable, with lingering concerns over global growth, inflationary pressures, and liquidity conditions. The volatility of traditional markets often bleeds into crypto, making sudden swings a persistent threat.

All eyes are now on the US Federal Reserve, with investors widely anticipating a rate cut at next week’s meeting. Such a move would reinforce the bullish implications of the stablecoin surge, further boosting liquidity and supporting higher valuations across digital assets. Conversely, any hesitation or unexpected policy shift could magnify uncertainty, creating sharp volatility.

USDT Dominance Suggests Risk Appetite

Tether (USDT) dominance currently stands at 4.29%, showing a modest decline after testing resistance near 4.5%. The weekly chart reveals that USDT’s market share has been in a gradual downtrend since peaking above 9% in mid-2022. This decline reflects a healthier appetite for risk assets, as capital shifts out of stablecoins and into Bitcoin, Ethereum, and altcoins.

The 50-week SMA at 4.67% and the 100-week SMA at 5.02% are both trending lower, confirming persistent weakness in dominance. Meanwhile, the 200-week SMA at 5.78% sits well above current levels, acting as a ceiling that reinforces the longer-term bearish structure for USDT’s market share. As long as USDT dominance remains below the 5% threshold, the market backdrop favors capital rotation into risk assets.

However, short-term support has emerged around the 4.2%–4.3% zone, where dominance has stabilized multiple times this year. A breakdown below this range would likely signal further risk-taking by investors, potentially fueling stronger rallies in crypto. Conversely, a bounce back toward 5% would indicate rising caution and renewed demand for stablecoins.

Featured image from Dall-E, chart from TradingView

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August 27, 2025

Finastra, a financial services software firm, has announced a collaboration with Circle Internet Group, Inc. (NYSE: CRCL), a stablecoin firm, to allow banks to integrate USDC settlement into cross-border payment flows.

In an announcement, the firm explains that this initiative will use Finastra’s payment hub solutions, including Global PAYplus (GPP), marking the first time Finastra will connect financial institutions to Circle’s payment infrastructure.

The companies said the partnership will also allow for faster international transfers by combining Finastra’s banking network’s scalability with USDC’s stability and transparency.

USDC Settlement Option

Through this collaboration, Finastra’s GPP customers—already processing over $5 trillion in cross-border transactions daily—will be able to settle transactions in USDC, even when underlying payment instructions remain denominated in fiat currencies.

This new option reduces reliance on traditional correspondent banking networks, allowing banks to accelerate settlement times without compromising compliance requirements or foreign exchange processes.

Empowering Banks With New Options

“This collaboration is about giving banks the tools they need to innovate in cross-border payments without having to build a standalone payment processing infrastructure,” said Chris Walters, CEO of Finastra.

He explained that by linking Finastra’s payment hub to Circle’s blockchain-based settlement infrastructure, banks can explore payment models while maintaining operational continuity.

Expanding USDC’s Global Role

“Finastra’s reach and expertise in powering the payments infrastructure for leading banks worldwide makes them a natural choice to further expand USDC settlement in cross-border flows,” said Jeremy Allaire, co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Circle.

With stablecoin adoption gaining momentum, the Finastra-Circle partnership represents a major move in reshaping international payments.

Circle Debuts Layer-1 Blockchain Arc Using USDC for Native Gas

Earlier this month, Circle unveiled Arc, an open Layer-1 blockchain designed specifically for stablecoin finance. This marks what the company calls a “defining moment” as it moves toward developing a full-stack internet financial platform.

The announcement came alongside Circle’s fiscal Q2 2025 results, which showed substantial growth in its core business. Circle reported that USDC in circulation surged 90% year-over-year to $61.3 billion, reaching $65.2 billion as of August 10, 2025. Total revenue and reserve income grew 53% to $658 million, while adjusted EBITDA climbed 52% to $126 million.

The company posted a net loss of $482 million, primarily due to $591 million in non-cash charges tied to its June IPO. That offering raised $1.2 billion, with 19.9 million newly issued shares sold at $31 each, generating $583 million in net proceeds.

CEO Jeremy Allaire described the IPO as a “pivotal moment” for Circle and for the broader adoption of stablecoins, noting accelerating interest from global financial institutions and internet companies.

USDC stablecoin issuer Circle has announced plans to launch Arc, its own enterprise-focused Layer 1 blockchain, according to an Aug. 12 statement.

According to the firm:

“Arc aims to establish itself as foundational infrastructure for regulated money movement, supporting a globally distributed financial system.”

Circle said Arc will integrate fully with its existing platform while maintaining interoperability with dozens of other partner blockchains.

Arc’s public testnet is scheduled for release between September and December 2025.

Circle’s Arc

Arc will serve as a high-performance base for stablecoin payments, foreign exchange (FX), and capital markets applications.

The network will be compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine and will use USDC as its default gas token. It also introduces a built-in stablecoin FX engine, sub-second settlement finality, and optional privacy features.

According to the blockchain network’s litepaper, Arc’s performance targets include 3,000 transactions per second (TPS) with under 350 milliseconds finality using 20 validators. Notably, the network could reach 10,000 TPS and under 100 milliseconds of finality with four validators.

Arc will also integrate confidential transfers, enabling hidden amounts with visible addresses, alongside selective disclosure via a “view key.”

Meanwhile, its MEV mitigation roadmap includes encrypted mempools, batch processing, and multi-proposer setups.

Arc will support Circle’s USYC, an interest-bearing stablecoin backed by short-term US Treasury securities. It will also offer fast bridging via Circle’s CCTP and Gateway, a built-in currency trading system for approved institutions, and AI-powered treasury management tools.

Beyond stablecoins, Arc is designed to host regulated real-world assets such as tokenized equities, bonds, private credit, and institutional-grade funds.

Circle plans to partner with licensed asset issuers, custodians, and fund administrators to ensure these assets are legally compliant, fully collateralized, and integrated with traditional financial obligations.

Community pushback

Despite its ambitious design, Arc has faced pushback from crypto community members.

Columbia Business School adjunct professor Omid Malekan argued that launching another Layer 1 is unnecessary, especially for stablecoins, which may struggle without diverse assets or strong DeFi ecosystems.

Adam Cochran, partner at venture capital firm Cinneamhain Ventures, also criticized the characterization of Arc as a Layer 1 blockchain.

According to him, the network is more accurately a consortium chain operated by a set of pre-approved, private validators. These validators, he noted, have the authority to reverse transactions through “dispute protocols.”

Moreover, he also argued that using USDC as the root token removes the economic incentives needed for validators to act independently, making a decentralized Layer 1 model unfeasible. As a result, he said, the design necessitates a closed, consortium-based structure.

Cochran concluded:

“Blockchains exist because exploitative middlemen, like banks and transfer agents, take undue fees and apply undue censorship. This industry was built to fix that in peer-to-peer systems, not by just building new banks.”

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The GENIUS Act contains a little-noticed clause that prevents technology giants and Wall Street behemoths from dominating the stablecoin market, according to Circle Chief Strategy Officer Dante Disparte.

“The GENIUS Act has what I’d like to call — just for my own legacy sake — a Libra clause,” Disparte told the Unchained podcast on Saturday. Any non-bank that wants to mint a dollar-pegged token must spin up “a standalone entity that looks more like Circle and less like a bank,” clear antitrust hurdles and face a Treasury Department committee with veto power over the launch.

Banks don’t get a free pass either. Lenders that issue a stablecoin must house it in a legally separate subsidiary and keep the coins on a balance sheet that carries “no risk-taking, no leverage, no lending,” Disparte noted.

That structure is even “more conservative” than the deposit-token models JPMorgan and others have floated. “It creates clear rules that I think in the end the biggest winners are the US consumers and market participants and frankly the dollar itself,” he added.

Related: Nasdaq files application to add staking for BlackRock iShares ETH ETF

GENIUS Act passes with bipartisan backing

Passed last week with more than 300 House votes, including support from 102 Democrats, the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act gives the dollar “rules-based” firepower in the global digital-currency race, Disparte argued.

“Crypto is finally getting what it wanted: legitimization, a path for legal and regulatory clarity in the United States and an opportunity to compete,” he said.

The bill preserves the patchwork of state money-transmitter laws for issuers under a $10 billion threshold but demands a national trust-bank charter once assets breach that level.

Notably, the law bans interest-bearing stablecoins, pushes rigorous disclosure standards and introduces criminal penalties for unbacked “stable” tokens. Terra-style experiments are “gone,” Disparte said.

However, critics argue the ban on yield could stunt consumer adoption and hand an advantage to overseas issuers. Disparte claimed that yield “is a secondary-market innovation” better delivered by decentralized finance protocols once the base layer is rock-solid.

Related: Bank of England governor warns against private stablecoin issuance

DeFi gains edge as GENIUS bans yields

The GENIUS Act’s ban on yield-bearing stablecoins could redirect investor demand toward Ethereum-based decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms.

With no interest incentives left in stablecoins, DeFi becomes the primary option for generating passive income onchain, according to analysts like Nic Puckrin and CoinFund’s Christopher Perkins, who predicted that “stablecoin summer” may now evolve into “DeFi summer.”

The ban is especially significant for institutional investors. Unlike retail users, financial institutions have fiduciary duties to generate returns, making yield opportunities essential. Analysts suggest this could lead to a surge in institutional capital flowing into DeFi, particularly on Ethereum, which dominates total value locked in the sector.

Magazine: TradFi is building Ethereum L2s to tokenize trillions in RWAs: Inside story

]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/genius-act-blocks-big-tech-banks-from-dominating-stablecoins-circle-exec/feed/ 0 48669 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/jpmorgan-chase-now-bearish-on-tesla-circle-rivian-snapchat-and-four-other-stocks-as-sp-500-trades-at-all-time-highs-report/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/jpmorgan-chase-now-bearish-on-tesla-circle-rivian-snapchat-and-four-other-stocks-as-sp-500-trades-at-all-time-highs-report/#respond Tue, 15 Jul 2025 09:14:08 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/jpmorgan-chase-now-bearish-on-tesla-circle-rivian-snapchat-and-four-other-stocks-as-sp-500-trades-at-all-time-highs-report/

Financial services titan JPMorgan Chase is suddenly turning bearish on the stocks of popular tech and restaurant companies as the S&P 500 hits record highs.

JPMorgan analysts say several big-named stocks appear overvalued and may be smart shorting plays for investors, reports Barron’s.

JPMorgan analyst Ryan Brinkman says Tesla (TSLA) currently has a “sky-high valuation” and expects earnings to plummet after President Trump reduced government subsidies for electric vehicle (EV) purchases. Brinkman also predicts that Tesla’s robo-taxi initiative is “likely to disappoint.”

He is also bearish on Tesla’s rival Rivian Automotive (RIVN). According to Brinkman, the firm’s efforts to improve its balance sheet “will likely [be] hampered by reduced EV subsidies and tariffs.”

Next up, JPMorgan analyst Kenneth Worthington says Circle Internet Group (CRCL), the stablecoin issuer, is due for a correction.

“Circle is a market leader in stablecoins with amazing technology, we view competition emerging and its current valuation as excessive.”

Moving on to the social media sector, JPMorgan analyst Doug Anmuth says Snapchat (SNAP) faces continual hurdles, including big brand advertisers’ “volatile” spending as well as the firm’s “poor track record on execution.”

Bumble (BMBL) is also earning a bearish outlook as JPMorgan analyst Cory Carpenter says the dating app stock faces a “structurally challenged” online dating sector, and the firm “is early in its turnaround effort.”

Other stocks JPMorgan analysts say are among the best candidates for investors to look for corrections include the restaurant chain Cheesecake Factory (CAKE), chipmaker Intel (INTC) and fast-food chain Shake Shack (SHAK).

As of Monday’s close, the S&P 500 is trading at record highs at 6,286 points.

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