Company: CRCL
Filing Date: 2025-08-12
Form Type: S-1
Source: 0001193125-25-178989
Chunk: 41

Company: Circle Internet Group, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-08-12
Form: S-1
Chunk 41
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 markets, blockchain, and stablecoin market conditions; and |

| • |     | our brand strength relative to that of our competitors. |

**If we are unable to successfully compete in our industry, our business, results of operations, financial condition, and prospects could suffer materially. Competition from new and existing issuers offering competing products, combined with the rise of yield-bearingdigital assets, including TMMFs, that are attractive to digital asset trading participants, may reduce market demand and circulation of Circle stablecoins. With significant growth in the stablecoin market and an increasing understanding that it represents one of the largest potential new markets for financial and payments infrastructures, we expect to continue to see intense 24

competition. In addition, the emergence of yield-bearing digital assets represents an additional source of competition, particularly in light of the current high interest rate environment, which has amplified the opportunity cost of holding stablecoins relative to other yield-bearing digital assets. See “Business—Competitive landscape” for a discussion of the competition within the digital asset industry (including from other stablecoins and yield-bearing digital assets). Stablecoins and other digital assets that are currently issued or may in the future be issued by digital asset trading platforms, major existing global payments companies, major asset management firms, and banks—along with decentralized algorithmic tokens—are likely to increase competitive pressure on Circle stablecoins and could slow our growth or cause significant declines in our market position. Given the inherent network effects that accompany stablecoin usage, a rapidly growing competitor, or a well-established payments company, asset management company, or bank that enters the market, could gain enough market share to ultimately limit the viability of Circle stablecoins. As an example of such an adverse impact, the amount of USDT in circulation (the largest stablecoin by stablecoins in circulation, issued by Tether) increased while the amount of USDC in circulation declined for nearly a one year period from late 2022 to late 2023, which we believe reflects the different use cases and underlying competitive dynamics for the two stablecoins. New categories of products that provide novel and attractive features, such as yield-bearing digital assets (including TMMFs), could also gain market acceptance at any time, which may compete with Circle stablecoins and cannibalize our market share, particularly if we fail to anticipate such market shifts or are slow to enter into these nascent markets.

In addition, we issue a TMMF, USYC, following our acquisition of Hashnote. The issuance of TMMFs represents a new facet of our