Circle Internet Group (CRCL -1.03%) 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.
CRCL Circle Internet Group
NYSE · As of 4:00 PM ET 10/19/26
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.
