The post Circle (CRCL) nearly 50% higher in two sessions since earnings results appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

Circle (CRCL), issuer of the USDC stablecoin, continues to surge, now 45% higher in less than two sessions following its Wednesday fourth quarter earnings report. The move snapped what had been a brutal 80% drawdown from record highs hit last year. While the company delivered strong growth in USDC supply, the stock’s outsized reaction was driven more by crowded short bets heading into the print than by strong financials, analysts suggested. “The magnitude of the move was not driven purely by the headline numbers. The real catalyst was positioning,” said Markus Thielen, founder of 10x Research. Hedge funds had built sizable bearish exposure into the report, according to his data. That setup pointed to a “high-probability short squeeze rather than a fundamental re-rating,” Thielen added. Circle stock price (left) and ratio of stocks short sold (right) (10x Research) He estimated that hedge funds had lost roughly $500 million in a single day on shorts as shares squeezed higher. Tough business While Circle’s report produced positive headline numbers, digging deeper into the data shows that the profitability of the business slipped despite growing stablecoin demand. On the fundamentals, Circle’s flagship USDC stablecoin grew to $75.3 billion in circulation, up 72% year over year and outpacing rival Tether’s USDT growth, Harvey Li, founder of Tokenization Insight, noted in a report. Revenue from reserve income — primarily U.S. government debt backing USDC — rose 58% to $2.64 billion as benchmark interest rates compressed over the past year. But distribution costs climbed even faster, up 66% to $1.66 billion, underscoring the expense of incentivizing partners and platforms to expand adoption. Despite surging circulation, Circle swung from a $156 million net profit in 2024 to a $70 million loss, Li pointed out. “Stablecoin may be scaling; stablecoin issuance is a tough business,” Li said. Beating…

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Filed under: News - @ February 27, 2026 3:24 am