Circle Internet Group Inc. (NYSE:CRCL) CEO Jeremy Allaire said on Wednesday the firm is prioritizing Arc over other blockchains because it sees the network as a major long-term platform opportunity with attractive margin potential.
Will Arc be Bigger Than USDC?
During the company’s second-quarter earnings call, Allaire described Arc as one of the most “massive” opportunities the company has ever encountered, and potentially even bigger than its $70 billion USDC (CRYPTO: USDC) stablecoin.
“This is the birth of a new operating system layer for economic activity in the world,” Allaire said. “We believe over the next three to five years, the opportunity set exists for these to become very large-scale infrastructures on the internet.”
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‘Incredibly Attractive Thing to Invest in’
The CEO said that the “compounding effects” of the network’s adoption in terms of real-world asset adoption, stablecoin adoption, and transaction fees bode well for Circle, both as a stakeholder and as a key infrastructure provider.
“All of these pieces make it an incredibly attractive thing to invest in,” Allaire added. “The margin characteristics are very attractive.”
Arc is an institutional-grade Layer-1 blockchain, with its ts native utility token, ARC. Circle became the first publicly listed company to conduct a token presale earlier in May, raising $222 million for the blockchain at a $3 billion valuation
The company said during the call that the Arc chain will go live on Sept. 16.
Hit-N-Miss in Q2
Allaire’s remarks coincided with Circle’s mixed second-quarter results, in which revenue fell short of forecasts while earnings matched Wall Street’s estimates
USDC in circulation reached $73.3 billion, up 19% year-over-year, while on-chain transaction volume surged 151% to $14.8 trillion.
Meanwhile, Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest bought shares of Circle through its ARK Innovation ETF (BATS:ARKK), ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (BATS:ARKW) and ARK Blockchain & Fintech Innovation ETF (BATS:ARKF).
Price Action: Circle shares fell 2.32% in after-hours trading after closing 0.05% higher at $63.28 during Wednesday’s regular trading session.
Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that the CRCL stock has underperformed with a weaker price trend across short-, medium-, and long-term timeframes.
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