Circle Stock Slips as Banks Eye Stablecoin Launch
USDC (USDC)
Editor:
Eugene Serbin
CoinGape.com reports that Circle (CRCL) stock fell 2.3% to close at $89.91 on Wednesday before recovering in pre-market trading. The decline followed news that traditional banks are exploring stablecoin launches that could challenge USDC dominance. Wall Street institutions like JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Santander are examining joint initiatives or individual issuances.
JPMorgan stated it has no current plans to launch a stablecoin despite the examination. Analyst Shay Boloor warned that large-scale bank distribution could reduce stablecoin activity flowing through Circle. Despite the competitive threat from companies like Visa, BlackRock, and Google, Circle retains key advantages.
The Arc blockchain is preparing for a public mainnet launch in September. Circle also secured a regulatory nod from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Comptroller of the Currency for its Circle National Trust. Bernstein analysts set a bullish price target of $140 for the stock.
How the market reacted
Whalio's own Binance spot order flow for USDC, measured when this story was written up on 27 August 2026. Not the outlet's figures.
USDC traded at $1.0000 with a 1-hour buy ratio of 48.9% and a 4-hour buy ratio of 47.1%, both slightly below the 24-hour buy ratio of 47.9%. This indicates that buying pressure is fading in the short term relative to the daily average. The 1-hour volume delta was -$1,621,194 and the 4-hour delta was -$43,863,643, showing net selling pressure over these shorter windows. The 24-hour volume delta closed at -$119,312,698, confirming that sellers dominated the day's volume. Net buying occurred for only 9 of the 24 hours, with total spot volume reaching $2,777,634,349. This data suggests a market where sellers are gradually outpacing buyers over the longer daily timeframe.
The latest daily buy ratio of 50.2% sits at the 73rd percentile of the last 322 days, against a median of 48.4% - stronger buying than most days.
Twenty-four hours later
What USDC did over the 24 hours after the story broke. The market moves for its own reasons; this is what happened, not what the story caused.
Was that an ordinary day?
The same Binance spot measurements for USDC, averaged over the days leading up to the story.
Over the preceding week, the average buy ratio was 50.0%, making today's 24-hour ratio of 47.9% a 2.1-point decrease from the norm. Weekly volume was 0.89x the average, indicating lighter trading activity than usual. Net buying was recorded for only 2 of the 7 days, with a total 8-day volume delta of -$162,776,293. This marks an unusual day for the coin, as trading volume and buying dominance both fell below their weekly averages. The price change over the 8-day period remained at 0.0%, showing stability despite the negative flow metrics.