The group behind one of the world’s largest stablecoins has filled for an initial public offering (IPO) at the New York Stock Exchange, in the latest attempt by digital assets firms to take advantage of the pro-crypto mood in the US regulatory circles.

Circle Internet had made similar attempts back in 2022 as well but were not successful on that occasion, the Financial Times has reported. According to the paper: “Tuesday’s filing shows Circle’s revenues on the reserves it maintains to back its USDC stablecoin jumped to $1.66bn last year, from $1.4bn in 2023.’

The IPO filling comes despite a fall of more than $100m in net income last year, as the firm spent large amounts on fees and transactions to promote its stablecoins on platforms such as Coinbase.

The initial jubilation and price boom in the crypto sector witnessed in the immediate aftermath of Donald Trump’s return to the White House has calmed down in recent weeks. Digital assets investors are worried about falling prices, and are waiting to assess the full impact of Trump’s tariffs policy before making any long term investment decisions.

Jeremy Allaire, Circle’s chief executive, was quoted by the FT saying: “Going public now is representative of the fact that we are at a significant crossroads for Circle and the development of the internet financial system.” 

BlackRock gets FCA approval

The UK’s FCA has approved BlackRock’s application to operate as a crypto firm in the country, making it the 51st such registered firm to get a licence from the regulator. According to reports, the registration means “BlackRock can now offer its new European Bitcoin exchange-traded product (ETP) in the UK.”

The iShares Bitcoin ETP (IB1T) was already on offer in other European markets such as Paris and Amsterdam, and will now be offered in the UK as well.

The firms’s US-listed iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) had already received approval from authorities in the US, where it has now accumulated more than $48 billion in assets, according to reports.

CEO Larry Fink has indicated bitcoin could potentially rival the US dollar in the future as a store of value, given the large amount of US debts and government expenditures.

Trump’s crypto connections

Elsewhere, US lawmakers are increasingly concerned about the impact of the Trump family’s connections with the crypto industry, and its impact on the integrity of the US financial system.

According to reports, at least two lawmakers, Sen Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Rep Maxine Waters (D-CA), have asked acting SEC chair Mark Uyeda to preserve “all records and communications regarding World Liberty Financial, Inc.”

The crypto firm was founded and launched last year by members of Trump’s family, including his sons, and some of his closest associates and known crypto advocates.

In a joint letter, the two lawmakers have asked the SEC “to enable Congress to fulfil its Constitutional oversight responsibilities and help us better understand the extent to which the Trump family’s financial interest in World Liberty Financial may be influencing your and the Commission’s activities, and whether this conflict of interest may be interfering with its mission to protect investors and maintain fair and orderly markets.”

Lawmakers have argued that the Trump family’s stake in the company creates a conflict of interest, in the sense that the current administration might influence the SEC’s oversight of the digital assets industry.

The letter also refers to a specific case where the SEC allegedly dropped charges against an individual after they they invested tens of millions of dollars in the Trump family firm.

The SEC has taken a more hands-off approach to crypto under Mark Uyeda in recent months by dropping a number of cases, with the likes of Coinbase, Kraken, Uniswap Labs, and OpenSea being among the beneficiaries.

Bitcoin price warning

The crypto industry in general, and bitcoin in particular, will not be immune from the consequences of President Trump’s tariff policies, industry experts have warned.

According to an article in Forbes, bitcoin has already seen a $25,000 drop in price in recent months (from $110,000 after Trump’s inauguration to $85,000 currently), and things could get even worse.

Zach Burks, chief executive of NFT company Mintology, was quoted by Forbes saying: ““It is becoming clearer that bitcoin is the retail investor doomsday asset of choice, whereas gold is the institutional haven – especially given the ‘soft power’ Trump currently holds on crypto assets.”

Experts argue that the Trump’s promise to create a bitcoin reserve and a crypto stockpile will not convince investors to put their investments and their trust in digital assets in the same way they do in other assets such as gold.

According to Gadi Chait, an investment manager at Xapo Bank: “In the past few weeks, bitcoin has been trading within a wide range of $76,600 to $94,500. If prices break decisively below $76,600, it could signal a significant shift in market sentiment.”

President Trump announced its much-awaited global tariffs policy in a ceremony on Wednesday. Global markets are still digesting and analysing the details. But the announcement has already raised concerns in the EU, the UK and around the world.

ISIS using crypto

The US’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has issued an advisory alerting financial institutions in the country to look out for suspicious financial activities that could potentially be helping finance the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, a US-designated terrorist organization.

According to the notice, “ISIS and its affiliates have increasingly adopted digital assets, including virtual currency, as a means of storing and moving funds.”

The US agency has referred to a UN report from 2023 which said the group was using one of its offices to transfer around $25,000 in virtual currency each month.

The advisory adds that ISIS has “used Bitcoin as well as stablecoins like Tether (USDT) to raise and move funds but has also promoted fundraising campaigns using the blockchains Ethereum, Monero, and Tron.”

It also warns that the group has the ability to transfer funds to its supporters in crypto, and that such transfers have predominantly taken place in northern Syria and Turkey.

“To this end, ISIS takes advantage of virtual currency exchanges with lax or non-existent AML/CFTcontrols to send, receive, and convert these funds,” FinCEN has said.