Circle Internet Group's stock closed Monday up nearly 20%, trading around $121 after opening as low as $103.90. CRCL saw trading volume of 32.6 million shares against an average of 9.56 million — a sign the move was broad-based, not a thin-market gap. The stock is now up close to 30% over five sessions, recovering ground it had surrendered since its March collapse.
The catalyst was a bipartisan Senate compromise that broke a months-long deadlock over the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act. Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks released the compromise text on Friday, resolving the bill's final sticking point: how to treat stablecoin yield. The new language bars crypto firms from paying any interest or yield "economically or functionally equivalent" to a bank deposit, while preserving activity-based rewards tied to "bona fide" platform usage, meaning rewards for trading, transacting, or providing liquidity remain on the table, just not savings-account-style passive yield.
For Circle, the distinction is material. Over 95% of Circle's revenue comes from interest income on USDC reserves, and an earlier March draft of the bill that would have more broadly restricted yield sent the stock down 20% in a single session. The revised text is a considerably better outcome. Circle, as a regulated stablecoin issuer, is widely seen as a potential beneficiary of clearer rules, particularly if stablecoins are formally positioned as payment tools rather than yield-bearing assets.
Mark it up https://t.co/KZbJ7PHoVR
— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) May 1, 2026
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong posted "Mark it up" after the text dropped, and chief legal officer Paul Grewal said the language preserves activity-based rewards tied to real participation on crypto platforms. For Coinbase, the commercial stakes are significant — the exchange reported $1.35 billion in stablecoin revenue in 2025, much of it from rewards-driven distribution payments tied to its USDC partnership with Circle. Coinbase closed up 6.1% on the news. BitGo and Galaxy Digital added 10.3% and 3.8% respectively.
Polymarket odds for the CLARITY Act being signed into law in 2026 jumped to 61% following the deal, up from lower levels during the stalled negotiations. A Senate Banking Committee markup is now expected as early as the week of May 11, with a full Senate floor vote potentially following in June or July.
Robinhood's divergence
Robinhood also gained on Monday, rising around 4% alongside the broader crypto stock rally — but that move came against the backdrop of a difficult week. Robinhood fell 13.24% on April 29, the day after its Q1 earnings missed on both revenue and EPS. Crypto-related revenue dropped 47% to $134 million from $252 million a year earlier, the primary driver of the miss.
The contrast with Circle and Coinbase is instructive. Circle and Coinbase derive most of their value from crypto infrastructure — stablecoin issuance, distribution, and custody — which benefits directly from regulatory clarity and institutional adoption. Robinhood's crypto exposure is more transactional: it earns revenue when retail users trade crypto, and that activity collapsed as prices stagnated through Q1.
CEO Vlad Tenev addressed the framing directly on the earnings call. "I want to get away from talking about the price of Bitcoin," he told investors, adding that Robinhood is focused on using crypto technology as "infrastructure" for financial services. The pitch is that prediction markets, Gold subscriptions, and eventual tokenisation of equities will diversify the revenue base — event contracts pushed "other transaction revenue" up 320% year over year to $147 million — but for now, the stock remains tightly correlated to crypto sentiment when it disappoints.
Coinbase reports Q1 earnings on May 7, with analysts watching how its own stablecoin revenue held up during the quarter.
