ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood has publicly pushed back on Wall Street’s cautious view of Circle, arguing that short-term stock weakness ignores the stablecoin issuer’s long-term role in reshaping payments. In a post on X, Wood noted that Circle shares had risen 84% since their initial public offering, even as the stock dropped about 42% over the past twelve months. By comparison, Visa gained 7% and Mastercard slipped 1% over the same period.
Wood’s comments follow Circle’s improving financials. The company reported $48 million in net income for the second quarter of 2026, reversing a prior-year loss, while transaction revenue doubled. USDC processed approximately $849 billion in transaction volume in July and held 62% market share. During the first half of 2026, USDC handled a record $5.3 trillion in transactions. Circle debuted at $31 on June 5, 2025, later peaked near $299, and as of the latest reports traded roughly 58% below that peak despite a 30% rally in July.
Wood also framed Circle as a disruptor to traditional payment networks, saying many analysts who cover Visa and Mastercard may not fully understand stablecoin competition. That competition is intensifying through the Open USD consortium, launched around June 30, 2026, with partners including Stripe, Coinbase and BlackRock. Visa and Mastercard have also joined the group, while Mastercard paid $1.8 billion for BVNK Finance, which had previously powered Visa’s stablecoin payouts. Finance researcher Alex, a partner at Artemis and Oobit, noted that stablecoin transfers reached about $33 trillion over the previous year, up 72%, reinforcing the scale of the shift Wood is highlighting.
