Bernstein: The compromise clause on the yield of the CLARITY Act will strengthen Circle's competitive advantage

Bernstein stated in its latest research report that the recently reached compromise on stablecoin yield in the U.S. CLARITY Act is structurally beneficial for Circle and the USDC ecosystem.

The report indicates that the current version of the bill prohibits stablecoin issuers from paying interest to passive holders that is "economically equivalent" to bank deposits, but allows reward mechanisms related to real transactions, payments, and usage behaviors to continue. Bernstein believes this means that Circle's current model, which relies on partners like Coinbase to provide USDC reward programs, will gain regulatory recognition, while also limiting the industry's ability to compete for market share through high yields.

Bernstein pointed out that the bill actually reinforces the positioning of stablecoins as "payment tools" rather than "deposit substitutes," which helps protect Circle's current business model that relies on reserve income. It continues to give Circle an "outperform" rating and a target price of $190.

Data shows that the total supply of global dollar stablecoins has surpassed $300 billion, with USDT and USDC together accounting for about 97% of the market share. Bernstein noted that USDC's share in on-chain payments and wallet transfers is continuously increasing, with its payment share in the AI Agent payment protocol x402 exceeding 99%.

Additionally, Bernstein mentioned that Circle's launched ARC chain has completed a total of 244 million testnet transactions, and its ARC token presale previously raised $222 million, with investors including a16z crypto, Apollo Funds, ARK Invest, and BlackRock among others.

However, the report also pointed out that the CLARITY Act still needs to complete several legislative procedures before it can officially take effect, including a full Senate vote with 60 votes and coordination with the House version. Polymarket currently predicts a probability of about 62% for it to pass by 2026.