Wood Rips Traditional Payments Analysts for Ignoring Circle's Stablecoin Disruption

Cathie Wood, founder of ARK Invest, has taken aim at traditional payments analysts for what she sees as their failure to understand the disruption posed by Circle Internet Group. According to her, analysts covering Visa and Mastercard are 'sleeping on' the threat that USDC, Circle's dollar-pegged stablecoin, poses to these established players.

Circle has seen its shares climb 84% since its June 2025 IPO, while Visa and Mastercard have barely budged this year, with year-to-date gains of just 5% and 1%, respectively. Wood sees this disparity as evidence of market inefficiency rather than market wisdom.

Circle's recent financial performance provides more than just anecdotal evidence to support Wood's thesis. The company reported net income of $48 million in Q2 2026, a sharp reversal from a loss in the prior-year period, and transaction revenue doubled over the same stretch.

The driving force behind these results is USDC, which now commands 62% of market share in stablecoin transaction volumes. As of July 2026, it processed roughly $849 billion in transaction volume, and zooming out further, the scale becomes even harder to ignore: USDC processed a record $5.3 trillion in transactions during the first half of 2026.

The arrival of Open USD consortium, launched around June 30, 2026, with a roster of backers that includes Stripe, Coinbase, and BlackRock, adds another layer of complexity to the competitive landscape. While Visa and Mastercard have joined this consortium, their analysts may not be aware of the threat they pose to traditional card networks.