Bernstein Remains Confident in Circle's Growth and USDC

• Bernstein Reaffirms $230 Price Target for Circle
• Hyperliquid May Launch Stablecoin, But Impact Will Be Gradual
• USDC Increases Market Share Against Tether

Brokerage firm Bernstein reaffirmed its positive recommendation on Circle (CRCL), maintaining its $230 price target. Analysts expressed confidence that the issuer of the USDC stablecoin will continue to grow, even with the prospect of new competitors, such as the stablecoin that could be launched by Hyperliquid.

In recent days, Hyperliquid held a stablecoin ticker auction for its HyperEVM blockchain, sparking discussions about the potential impact on already established assets. Currently, approximately 7,5% of the total USDC supply is used as collateral on Hyperliquid's perpetual futures platform, according to Bernstein estimates.

Despite this, analysts assessed that the impact on USDC will not be immediate.

“Raising liquidity for new stablecoins is not trivial, especially for cryptocurrency capital market products like futures, where position sizing and execution efficiency are important,”

wrote in a statement. They reinforced that building liquidity in complex markets is a gradual process and that Hyperliquid may choose to partner with established issuers, such as Paxos.

In addition to Hyperliquid, other companies have been expanding efforts to launch stablecoins, including World Liberty Financial, backed by President Donald Trump, and even large traditional financial institutions, such as Bank of America, which is studying the creation of its own dollar-pegged asset.

Over the weekend, Circle co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire commented on the topic. "Don't believe the hype. We're coming to the HYPE ecosystem in a big way. We intend to be a major player and contributor to the ecosystem," he wrote on X, noting that USDC is already in the process of being deployed on HyperEVM.

Don't Believe the Hype

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…

— Jeremy Allaire – jda.eth / jdallaire.sol (@jerallaire) September 7, 2025

Bernstein also highlighted that the start of a rate-cutting cycle could directly benefit demand for USDC, both as a liquidity buffer and for generating on-chain yield. The report also highlighted that Circle has been expanding its integration with financial services and payment solutions.

Regarding competition, analysts pointed out that USDC gained market share over Tether, rising from 28% in the second quarter to 30% currently, strengthening its position among the main global stablecoins.