On July 1, 2026, Eastern Time, according to data from Google Finance, Circle Internet Group (NYSE: CRCL) closed at $61.95, down 1.09%. Just the previous trading day (June 30), CRCL suffered an even more severe single-day plunge of 17.55%, closing at $62.63. Looking across months, over the past 30 trading days, CRCL’s cumulative decline has already exceeded 40%. From the vicinity of its April high (about $104) to the end of June, the market value of this “first stablecoin stock” has evaporated by more than 40%. The stock’s violent fluctuations have never been the result of a single factor. CRCL’s current downturn has been compounded by multiple pressures: in June, the FTSE Russell annual index adjustment removed Circle from several growth benchmark indices, including the Russell 1000 Growth Index and the Russell 3000 Growth Index, triggering passive selling by index-tracking funds; at the same time, a competing stablecoin named Open USD (OUSD) officially launched on June 30, gaining support from more than 140 of the world’s top institutions. These two forces converged within the same time window, resulting in the most severe single-month decline in CRCL’s history. CRCL’s stock price trend compared with key events since its listing (June 2025 – July 2026) But setting aside the index adjustment this