The point of a stablecoin is that it is highly predictable. These digital tokens, whose value is pegged to dollars or euros, are a bit like money in the bank, but with the virtue of being transferable without the delays that vex old-style bank customers.
The technology industry, meanwhile, is the opposite of predictable. A good example of this is Circle Internet, the creator of the world’s second-biggest stablecoin, USDC. Its shares debuted in New York on Thursday at a theoretical valuation of $8.1bn. Compared with the Circle of three years ago, when the company last tried to go public, the difference is dramatic.
Circle came close to listing its shares by merging with a special-purpose acquisition company, in a deal that hit the skids in 2022. As part of that process, the company set out — in public — details of its business, strategy and financial projections.