Not Since 1980…

Circle Gets the Square

Circle Internet Group (CRCL), the company behind the USDC stablecoin, just pulled off one of the most explosive IPOs in decades.

On June 5, 2025, the company priced its IPO at $31 per share, then watched as shares more than doubled on their first day of trading, soaring as high as $103.75 at one point before closing at $83.23 — a 168% pop above the IPO price

The next day, the stock jumped another 30% to close at $107.70, and demand hasn’t let up since. At latest check, shares have surged over 600% from the IPO price. A meteoric rise by any metric.

• Jay Ritter, a leading IPO expert, confirmed that Circle’s two-day moonshot was the biggest for any major IPO since 1980. That’s the kind of windfall most retail investors only dream about.

It’s not every day a company comes out of nowhere and shakes up Wall Street and crypto in one fell swoop. But that’s exactly what Circle did — and if you blinked, you might have missed it.

What’s fueling this frenzy? Circle is at the center of the fast-growing stablecoin market, with USDC now the seventh-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, pegged at about $61 billion.

Circle now stands alongside Coinbase as one of the few pure-play crypto firms to list in the U.S., and its success is seen as a bellwether for the entire sector.

The IPO itself was a blockbuster. Clearly, the appetite for digital assets and fintech is back—and it’s stronger than ever. Circle’s vision, according to CEO Jeremy Allaire, is to “create a new financial infrastructure based on the internet that could fundamentally transform the use of money.”

But this isn’t just about Circle. The company’s success is a signal. According to Lynn Martin, president of the NYSE Group: “I see the Circle IPO as a bellwether for the IPO markets this year, not just for crypto listings.” 

Which brings us to an important point: If you’re a regular investor, you probably missed out on the “ground floor” opportunity. The real winners in this story were the insiders and big-money investors who got in before the IPO.

By the time shares hit the open market, the price had already rocketed. That’s the reality of the IPO game — the biggest gains are reserved for those who get in early, before the company goes public.

So what’s next? Circle’s story is a reminder that the best opportunities often come before the headlines. If you want a shot at the next big thing, you need to be in the know — and sometimes, you need to act before the rest of the world catches on.

Now, Paradigm’s venture capital veteran James Altucher says this week you have a chance to invest in the next “SUPER IPO”… Before shares trade on a major U.S. exchange.

James has identified a company that is developing one of the most mission-critical products since the birth of the internet.

As we speak, it’s preparing to go public on America’s premier tech exchange. And unlike most “IPO” setups…

You can buy shares today BEFORE the company officially goes public, maybe in a matter of days. And you don’t need to have millions of dollars or any special connections.

There is a secret backdoor in the IPO market — and through it, you can invest in this company now while it’s trading for just $3 per share.

James explains everything here. But he highly recommends you take action today — before the backdoor on this offer closes Friday at 4 p.m. ET.

Click here to see why James is so bullish on this company.

A Market Memo: “Headlines Fade”

“If you turn on the mainstream media right now, the Israel/Iran conflict is dominating the headlines,” says editor Davis Wilson at our sister e-letter The Million MIssion.

For instance, when the story first hit the news cycle: “Oil prices spiked. The S&P 500 pulled back. And naturally, people [asked]: Is this the start of something bigger?

“However, we’ve seen this playbook before,” Davis notes. “It starts with breaking news: a drone strike, a missile launch, a shocking assassination. Oil rallies. Defense stocks surge. Broader equities pull back as headlines scream about escalation and global instability.

“But zoom out,” he says, “and the pattern becomes clear: These dips have consistently turned into buying opportunities.” Here’s a sketch of a few major geopolitical events from the past decade…

1. Russia invades Crimea (2014): “Russia’s annexation of Crimea in early 2014 was met with global outrage,” David notes. “Sanctions were imposed. Markets dipped. But the S&P 500? It was down briefly in March, then went on to finish the year up over 11%. Investors who bought the fear were rewarded within months”
2. U.S.-China trade war (2018–2019): “While not a kinetic conflict, the trade war was a geopolitical standoff with real economic consequences. Tariffs were slapped on billions in goods. Markets dropped several times on tweets alone. But the trade war didn’t break the bull market,” he says, “it merely created volatility within a broader uptrend”
3. Russia invades Ukraine (2022): “This was the biggest geopolitical shock since 9/11,” Davis emphasizes. “Markets initially dropped — especially European and global names. But by the end of 2022, U.S. stocks had largely priced in the new reality. Energy prices spiked and then fell back. Defense stocks rallied. The S&P 500 found its footing and moved on.”

Not to mention multiple “periods of heightened conflict in the Middle East [often] cause brief market wobbles, especially in energy,” says Davis. “But they rarely create lasting damage to U.S. equities. Unless oil prices remain elevated for months (which is rare), these are noise in the long run.

“So why does the market keep bouncing back?” Davis posits: “Three reasons…

“Markets price in worst-case scenarios quickly,” he says. “When geopolitical news breaks, traders often assume escalation. But once the situation de-escalates (or fails to spiral) stocks rebound as uncertainty fades.”

Next: “U.S. companies are resilient. Most geopolitical issues don’t directly affect corporate earnings. Even during oil shocks or military conflicts, consumer spending and business operations often go untouched.”

Last: “‘Buy the dip’ is embedded. Investors have been rewarded for 15 years for stepping in on weakness.”

Davis’ key takeaway: “Don’t panic. Don’t chase headlines. Watch sentiment — not news anchors. If geopolitical tensions rise and stocks dip sharply, that’s often the setup for a sharp rebound.

“Avoid piling into defense stocks after they’ve run. Instead, buy what’s unfairly punished: the high-quality stocks I highlight — Nvidia, Meta, Uber — not because they’re immune to news cycles, but because they rebound the fastest when the fear fades.

“Remember: Fear drives short-term volatility. Fundamentals drive long-term gains.” Davis advises: “Stay calm. Stay patient. And when others panic — get ready to strike.”

Taking a look at my screen this afternoon: The Big Board is up 0.80% to 43,320. As for the other two major U.S. indexes, the techie Nasdaq is up 0.70% to 20,110 while the S&P 500 is up 0.65% to 6,130.

Turning to the commodities complex, the price of oil is up 1.50% to $65.90 for a barrel of WTI. Precious metal? Gold’s barely hanging out in the green territory: up 0.10% to $3,346.40 per ounce. But silver’s up 1.60% to $36.58.

The crypto market’s hit a speedbump today: Bitcoin’s down 0.40% to $107,320, but Ethereum’s taking a breather at $2,430.

DeFi: Code, Crypto and Clarity

“In the 1990s, the U.S. government classified encryption — or ‘crypto’ — as a weapon,” says James Altucher’s chief analyst Chris Campbell. “If you were writing strong encryption code — PGP, RSA — you were, legally speaking, an arms dealer,” he adds.

“It was America’s first crypto war,” says Chris. “At its core was one question: Is code speech? The people building encryption said yes. The government said no.

“The turning point was the Bernstein v. U.S. Department of Justice case (1995–1999) — a landmark legal battle that established code as protected speech under the First Amendment.

“Fast-forward 30 years and we saw crypto wars 2.0,” Chris notes. DeFi platforms were investigated, and Coinbase, for example, was threatened regularly. Even self-custody was under attack.

“That was the Gary Gensler era,” says Chris. “Gensler didn’t believe in clarity. He believed in ambiguity. Not because he was stupid. But because ambiguity is a tool. If nobody knows the rules, everyone’s guilty.”

But that all changed this month…

The SEC’s “DeFi and the American Spirit” roundtable was “the most important crypto discussion to ever take place in America,” Chris emphasizes.

“SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said it plainly: ‘DeFi is as American as apple pie.’ He said self-custody is a right. He said code is speech. He said your constitutional freedoms don’t vanish when you log on to the internet.

“He even floated an ‘innovation exemption,’” Chris continues, “a fast-track for blockchain projects that play by some basic rules but don’t want to die in paperwork hell.

“For the first time publicly, the SEC acknowledged:

• Bitcoin mining is not a security (already assumed, now confirmed)
• Staking is also not a security, including staking-as-a-service.

[FYI: Staking is the process of locking up cryptocurrency in a blockchain network to help validate transactions and earn rewards, while staking-as-a-service allows users to delegate their tokens to a third party that handles the technical requirements of staking on their behalf.]

“This clears a major cloud over Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and basically all major blockchains,” Chris says.

“Crypto is finally on track to get what we’ve needed all along: clarity. Staking clarity. Token clarity. Self-custody protection. And actual, written laws — so builders can stop looking over their shoulder and start shipping code.

“This isn’t bullish. It’s nuclear…

“But how do we find the real hidden gems? Here’s one strategy James and I are using right now,” says Chris.

“First, don’t follow the noise. Follow the fees,” he says. “The real plays right now aren’t the ones trending on Twitter — they’re the ones printing cash in the background.

“They’re small, often overlooked, but they’re raking in millions in protocol revenue from trading, lending, staking and stablecoin systems.

“And the kicker: A lot of that revenue is flowing directly back to token holders. Real yield. Not inflation.

“To find the real under-the-radar plays,” Chris concludes, “look for rising usage, sticky users and weird new niches — like tokenized yield or DeFi-native forex — that the big names haven’t fully claimed.

“If you can catch these before they go mainstream, you’re not just early. You’re ahead of the curve, while everyone else is still trying to figure out what’s happening.”

Why Millionaires Feel “Meh”

Forget caviar and Champagne — millionaires are living downright ho-hum lives these days.

The world now boasts about 52 million “everyday” millionaires, folks with between $1–5 million in net worth, according to a recent UBS report. That’s four times more than in 2000. (Adjusting for inflation? The number of millionaires has more than doubled.)

In the U.S. alone, new millionaires are being minted at a rate of about 1,000 per day. The country is home to nearly 24 million millionaires, accounting for about 40% of the global total — four times more than runner-up China.

But here’s the twist: Most of these folks don’t feel rich. “Millionaires are no longer Monopoly caricatures,” says Paul Donovan, chief economist at UBS Global Wealth Management. “It’s shifted to encompass a very large portion of the population.”

Much of this wealth surge comes from soaring home prices and an aging population. A record 39.3% of Americans own their homes outright, and over half of these are at retirement age.

Boomers, in particular, have benefited from tax perks like the mortgage-interest deduction and tax-free 401(k) contributions.

Yet many U.S. millionaires are surprised to learn about their status. “I know we’re technically ‘millionaires’ with our home equity but it isn’t really helpful for monthly expenses,” says Alisha Ard, a stay-at-home mom in Ventura County, California, where the median home costs more than $800,000.

“It’s honestly hard to describe how incredibly pedestrian and normal our lives are,” says Glen Czaplewski of Denver, echoing a common sentiment among this new class of millionaires.

“Everyone is a lot better off,” Donovan notes, “but relatively speaking, people don’t necessarily feel that.”

Mailbag: Speaking of “Meh”

“When Trump won the election, I sold California muni bonds, put 90% into ‘drill baby drill’ Chevron and 10% into Barrick Gold; dividend reinvest on both. Happy, happy,” responds an optimistic contributor to our question yesterday: To what extent do you let politics drive your investing decisions?

Emily: Thank you to the one reader who responded… Where is everyone? Enjoying an afternoon siesta? Summer vacay?

Nonetheless, our reader’s response reflects the partisan gap in market optimism we mentioned yesterday — now the widest gap ever recorded, with Republicans far more bullish than Democrats

As Dave mentioned, investors are increasingly letting politics guide their choices. But beware, write Neil Howe and associate Christian Ford at the Demography Unplugged Substack page…

“According to Bespoke Investment Group, $1,000 invested only during Republican presidencies since 1953 would be worth about $29,000 today,” versus $60,000 if invested only during Democratic presidencies — but $1,000 left invested continuously would have grown to $1.9 million.

This suggests that a disciplined, long-term strategy beats betting on political outcomes.

That seems to be the prevailing sentiment in these 5 Bullets… Until next time, take care!

Best regards,

Emily Clancy
Associate editor, Paradigm Pressroom's 5 Bullets