Circle faces 20% revenue risk from AI agents, Mizuho warns

Wall Street has a new worry about Circle Internet Group, and it doesn’t involve rival stablecoins, regulators or crypto winters. It involves chatbots. Mizuho cut its price target on the USDC issuer to $43 from $45 on Monday and kept its Underperform rating on the stock. The analysts argued that AI personal assistant engines pose a “marked risk” to Circle’s medium-term revenue, and their new target implies a 46% downside from where shares were trading. The robots are giving financial advice now The core of Mizuho’s argument is simple. As people hand more of their money decisions to AI agents, those agents may not be fans of USDC. According to the research, the analysts found that AI agents such as one called Muse tend to nudge users away from holding USDC. Instead, the agents point them toward FDIC-insured bank alternatives that pay higher yields. The detail that should sting most for Circle: the agents reportedly made those recommendations even when users said they preferred digital assets. Mizuho put numbers on the potential fallout. The firm estimates this shift could shave $4 billion to $9 billion off USDC’s market capitalization over the medium term. That translates into a poss...