Robinhood’s 114% Rally: A Bet on Stablecoin Infrastructure?

Published 25/06/2025, 19:28

Outside of Bitcoin (BTC), the most successful products from the crypto sector are stablecoins, accounting for a $251.33 billion market cap. As tokenized dollars traverse across blockchains, stablecoins make decentralized applications (dApps), such as exchanges and loans, more practical and accessible.

Moreover, stablecoins are the fastest and most cost-effective way to move money internationally, given that they rely solely on blockchain networks. And now that the anti-crypto Biden administration is gone, so is the debanking of the crypto sector. The GENIUS Act, the first regulatory framework for stablecoins, already passed the U.S. Senate last Tuesday.

Buoyed by institutional acceptance, FinTech firm Fiserv Inc (NYSE:FI) leads the first major revitalizing move. On Tuesday, Fiserv announced its own stablecoin FIUSD in partnership with Paxos and Circle Internet Group, notable for its USDC stablecoin. The fastest blockchain network Solana (SOL) will bring FIUSD to Fiserv clients, which covers around 10,000 financial institutions across six million merchants.

The question is, how can investors gain exposure from the renewed stablecoin revolution?

Robinhood Markets Inc.

Known for its financial innovation of removing stock trading commissions, Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD).has accumulated nearly 26 million funded customers. Many of them are well-versed in the crypto sector as well, which is facilitated by Robinhood Crypto, a subsidiary of Robinhood Markets.

In November 2024, Robinhood joined the Global Dollar Network consortium, together with Kraken exchange, Galaxy Digital (TSX:GLXY), Anchorage Digital, Bullish, Nuvei (TSX:NVEI), and Paxos. The consortium’s stablecoin is USDG, pegged to the dollar in a 1:1 ratio.

Most recently, also on Tuesday, the Global Dollar Network received its largest member yet – Mastercard (NYSE:MA). The payment giant will additionally support Fiserv’s FIUSD stablecoin, as well as PayPal’s PYUSD. Previously, Mastercard only supported USDC from Circle.

All consortium members share the revenue generated by the stablecoin ecosystem, but Robinhood additionally benefits from USDG due to its 24/7 settlement capability. This makes the company more operationally efficient.

Ending April for Q1 2025, Robinhood improved its margin book by 115% year-over-year to a new record of $8.8 billion. The company’s net margin from Q1 ‘24 to Q1 ‘25 went up from 25% to 36%, delivering net income of $336 million, which is up 114% year-over-year.

Year-to-date, HOOD stock is up 114%, presently priced at $84.72 against its 52-week average of $38.63 per share. According to WSJ’s forecasting data, the average HOOD price target is $67.95, with $105 as the price ceiling and $43 as the bottom.

Fiserv Inc.

Outside of its recent FIUSD stablecoin development, the Wisconsin-based Fiserv makes its revenue through end-to-end FinTech solutions. Specifically, with digital banking, facilitating payments, regulatory compliance, sales of point-of-sale (POS) devices, and card issuer processing.

The bulk of Fiserv’s revenue comes from payment processing fees for merchants. In the most recent Q1 2025 earnings report ending March, Fiserv generated $5.13 billion revenue, an increase of 5% from the year-ago quarter.

The company’s Merchant Solutions division had the largest organic growth of 8% followed by a 6% uptick in the Financial Solutions division. For the full year 2025, Fiserv expects to see 15%-17% adjusted earnings per share (EPS) growth to $10.10–$10.30 range.

Year-to-date, FI stock is down 16%, presently priced at $172.59 against its 52-week average of $191.90 per share. The average FI price target is $219.50, which is significantly above the current price level. The bottom outlook for FI stock is $145, while its ceiling price is $268 per share.

According to Deloitte’s 2025 US Retail Industry Outlook, the biggest challenges merchants face are rising retail theft, price wars and regulation-induced costs. However, the overall revenue CAGR is still expected to go up 4.3% between 2024 and 2026.

Circle Internet Group, Inc.

In early June, we covered Circle Internet Group Inc (NYSE:CRCL)’s IPO extensively, noting that CRCL stock is the main beneficiary of renewed interest in stablecoins, aside from privately held Tether (issuer of USDT). And after the cancellation of an official U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC), regulated stablecoins will serve as significant drivers of demand for U.S. Treasuries.

A week ago, following the passing of the GENIUS Act through the Senate, both CRCL and Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) shares surged again.

On Monday, Circle also formed a strategic partnership with Fiserv. Although the company is a stablecoin competitor with its FIUSD, Fiserv needs Circle’s existing stablecoin infrastructure to enable borderless payments.

After Circle’s public trading debut in early June, CRCL stock is up nearly 60% over the week, currently priced at $250 per share. At present, there are no reliable price targets for CRCL stock.

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Neither the author, Tim Fries, nor this website, The Tokenist, provide financial advice. Please consult our website policy prior to making financial decisions.

This article was originally published on The Tokenist. Check out The Tokenist’s free newsletter, Five Minute Finance, for weekly analysis of the biggest trends in finance and technology.

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