Circle shares fell 0.80% to $80.19 during Thursday’s trading session as cryptocurrency prices weakened and US economic data showed fewer people filing for unemployment benefits than expected.
The stock dropped $0.64 and remained below the $81 level highlighted in the market report. Meanwhile, Bitcoin traded near $82,700, Ethereum hovered around $2,550, and XRP stood near $1.41.
The US Labor Department reported 197,000 initial jobless claims for the week ending October 3, below economists’ expectations of 200,000. The figure was also 2,000 lower than the previous week’s revised total of 199,000.
Crypto markets also faced selling pressure. CoinGlass data cited in the report showed more than $400 million in cryptocurrency liquidations over 24 hours, as Bitcoin and other major tokens declined.
Circle’s stock weakness came as the company continued expanding its stablecoin payment services through a new partnership with Tereina, which aims to bring USDC and EURC payments into existing SAP business systems.
Circle stock faces resistance near $81
Circle shares traded at $80.19 in the market snapshot, below the $80.84 resistance level identified in the report. The next resistance zone was placed between $81.30 and $81.40.
On the downside, the report identified support near $79.11, with $79 serving as another level to watch. These are technical levels cited in the market analysis, not guaranteed price targets.
Earlier Thursday, crypto-related stocks, including Circle, Coinbase, Strategy and Bitmine Immersion Technologies, also came under pressure as Bitcoin slipped below $83,000.
Stocktwits linked the broader market weakness to reports that the White House had requested military strike options involving Iran. Oil prices rose, while US Treasury yields moved toward recent highs amid the uncertainty.
The decline in crypto prices and the wave of liquidations added pressure to digital asset-related stocks.
US jobless claims fall below expectations
Initial jobless claims declined by 2,000 to 197,000 in the week ending October 3. Economists surveyed by Reuters had expected 200,000 claims.
The four-week moving average also fell by 2,500 to 198,000, suggesting that new claims remained relatively low.
However, continuing claims increased by 17,000 to 1.716 million for the week ending September 26. This measure tracks people who are already receiving unemployment benefits.
Economists have described the US labor market as a low-hiring, low-firing environment, where employers are adding relatively few workers but are also not laying off large numbers.
September payrolls reportedly increased by 29,000, following an increase of 133,000 in August.
For Circle, interest rates remain an important factor because much of its income comes from reserves backing USDC. In its second-quarter results, the company said lower returns on those reserves had offset some of the benefit from increased USDC circulation.
Circle reported $701 million in quarterly revenue and reserve income, up 7% from a year earlier. USDC circulation reached $73.3 billion at the end of the quarter.
The company also renewed its agreement with Coinbase through 2029. Under the arrangement, Coinbase receives payments tied mainly to income generated by assets backing USDC.
Circle expands USDC and EURC payments through SAP
Circle announced a partnership with SAP-backed Tereina on October 7 to bring stablecoin payments into enterprise business applications, starting with SAP Cloud ERP.
The integration is designed to help eligible businesses send and receive digital dollars and euros through systems their finance teams already use.
USDC will serve as the preferred stablecoin for eligible dollar-denominated payment workflows, while EURC will support euro-denominated transactions.
Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire described stablecoins as an important part of global commerce infrastructure. The partnership aims to make digital currency payments easier to use in routine business operations without requiring companies to replace their existing systems.
The companies plan to test the service with customers, train treasury and payment teams, and work with business partners to develop practical enterprise use cases.
SAP Pay adds stablecoin payments to existing financial tools
SAP Pay allows businesses to manage different payment methods through a single connection. According to SAP’s documentation, supported methods include ACH transfers, electronic funds transfers, wire payments, checks and USDC payments.
The service supports more than 40 currencies and 89 payment corridors, according to SAP. Its tools also help businesses match payments with the related invoices or purchase orders.
A pre-integrated Circle Mint account supports USDC transactions within the payment workflow, while businesses retain control over payment timing, currency and method.
The partnership could give Circle another way to expand USDC usage beyond cryptocurrency trading and into business payments. However, the companies still plan to test customer implementations and assess real-world adoption.
Bernstein has also linked Circle’s longer-term prospects to stablecoin payments, tokenized assets and blockchain-based financial markets. In an August research report, the brokerage maintained an Outperform rating and a $140 price target.
For now, Circle shares remain sensitive to movements in cryptocurrency prices, interest rates and expectations for stablecoin growth. Its partnership with Tereina adds another potential source of adoption, but the impact will depend on how widely businesses use the new payment services.
