Wall Street Calls Circle and Coinbase the Best Bets on Stablecoins

Bernstein analysts named Circle and Coinbase as the two best public-market proxies for stablecoin growth, specifically citing the coming wave of AI-powered payments.

The thesis: AI agents will need programmable money to transact autonomously. Stablecoins are the obvious choice — they're already on-chain, already denominated in dollars, already integrated with DeFi infrastructure. When your AI assistant books a flight and pays for it, it's probably going to use USDC.

Coinbase earns revenue on every USDC transaction through its partnership with Circle. More USDC volume means more Coinbase revenue. That's a cleaner business model than most crypto companies can offer.

Circle itself is preparing for an IPO. If stablecoin regulation continues to solidify — and the GENIUS Act suggests it will — Circle's path to going public becomes much smoother.

For retail investors who want exposure to the stablecoin sector without holding stablecoins directly, these two stocks are the most direct bet. Not financial advice. But the logic is straightforward.