Bitwise's Rasmussen: Circle is mispriced as stablecoins head toward trillions

The big picture: In an interview on CoinDesk’s Public Keys, Bitwise Head of Research Ryan Rasmussen said investors are underestimating Circle’s opportunity as stablecoins move toward a multi-trillion-dollar market.

• Rasmussen expects the stablecoin market to grow from roughly $300 billion to between $3 trillion and $5 trillion.
• He said Circle is particularly well positioned as U.S. stablecoin regulation takes shape, with its existing market share giving it a head start.
• “I think we'll look back five years from now and Circle will be not only a stablecoin giant, but a payment giant,” Rasmussen said.

Closer look: Rasmussen’s thesis isn’t just that more stablecoins mean more reserve revenue for Circle — he sees payments infrastructure becoming a major second business.

• Circle is building infrastructure designed to facilitate payments in a stablecoin-driven financial system.
• Rasmussen said that expansion is being “very mispriced by the market,” as investors remain focused on Circle’s reserve-based business.
• He compared Circle’s potential trajectory to global payments giants including Visa and Mastercard.

The competition: Banks, consumer companies and other incumbents are preparing their own stablecoins, but Rasmussen doesn’t see that as a major threat to Circle.