Bernstein Predicts Circle Shares Rally 60% as USDC Adoption and AI Agentic Finance Drive Demand

Analysts at Bernstein project that shares of Circle (CRCL), the company behind the USDC stablecoin, could rally to $190, implying roughly 60% upside from current levels; the Bernstein team, led by Gautam Chhugani, rates the stock at outperform and points to recent strong price performance as context for the bullish target.

“Circle could rally 60% more on stablecoin adoption, AI agentic finance, Bernstein says Stablecoins are decoupling from crypto market cycles as they are increasingly used for digital payments, Bernstein analysts said, which bodes well for USDC issuer Circle”

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The note frames the $190 figure as an upside case following the stock's recent doubling, and explicitly ties the recommendation to Circle's role in the expanding stablecoin payments ecosystem.

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Bernstein highlights that stablecoin adoption is diverging from traditional crypto market cycles, noting that USDC supply is near record highs — about $78 billion — even amid a broader crypto bear market.

The analysts argue this decoupling reflects increasing use of stablecoins for digital payments rather than speculative trading.

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That elevated supply level and the shift toward payments usage underpin Bernstein's view that USDC has structural demand separate from token market sentiment.

Beyond payments, Bernstein identifies AI-driven 'agentic finance' and potential micropayments as an emerging demand driver for USDC; the report singles out payments growth and AI-enabled micropayments as structural use cases that could expand stablecoin utility and therefore issuer value.

“Circle could rally 60% more on stablecoin adoption, AI agentic finance, Bernstein says Stablecoins are decoupling from crypto market cycles as they are increasingly used for digital payments, Bernstein analysts said, which bodes well for USDC issuer Circle”

@coindesk

The analysts suggest these technological trends — where AI agents might transact autonomously and require low-friction digital payment rails — add a forward-looking growth vector to Circle's business case.

The note frames the bullish case around measurable supply growth and new use cases, but the publicly excerpted coverage focuses on drivers rather than a detailed risk assessment; it emphasizes the recent stock surge (the shares had doubled in a short span) and a current reference price around $120 while implying upside to $190, without an extensive public listing of regulatory or macro risks in the cited summary.

As a result, readers relying solely on this reporting should note that the Bernstein call highlights opportunity and structural demand but does not, in these excerpts, lay out the timing, probability, or potential downside scenarios in depth.

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