Circle Internet Group (CRCL 10.63%) wasn't any investor's idea of a good stock buy on Hump Day. Market players aggressively sold out of the stablecoin developer's shares, on the back of a report that several major financial companies are teaming up to develop a competing cryptocurrency. Circle's stock price fell by nearly 11% across that trading session.
New stablecoin coming?
Before market open, crypto news and analysis site CoinDesk reported that Visa, Mastercard, and Stripe are on the brink of rolling out a new stablecoin platform. Citing three unnamed individuals "familiar with the plans," the site said a fourth company, crypto exchange operator Coinbase Global, is considering joining.
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All four companies have, to different extents, developed their own stablecoin capabilities. In fact, Coinbase and Circle co-founded the Centre Consortium as a governance body for Circle's USDC. This lasted until 2023, when the two companies agreed to a two-tier revenue split under which they share the coin's reserve interest income.
CoinDesk said that Visa, Stripe, and Coinbase refused to comment on its story. It had not received a response from Mastercard at the time of publication.
NYSE: CRCL
Key Data Points
It's hard to compete with an incumbent
The CoinDesk story did not provide any details of this apparent upcoming stablecoin. However, if the article is accurate, such a product is sure to be large-scale and, therefore, competitive even with the most popular stablecoins like USDC or the No. 1 in that category, Tether. Yet I wouldn't sell out of Circle solely on this report, especially without knowing at least a few key details about the new coin, given the prominence and success of USDC so far.
