Bernstein analysts have identified Circle and Coinbase as key stablecoin investment targets, citing their collaboration with USDC and the emerging potential stablecoins are demonstrating in the agentic machine payments space. These programmatic instant transactions are well-suited for AI agents and microtransactions, and companies like Coinbase and Circle are building the supporting infrastructure accordingly. Despite limited current progress—Stripe's protocol processed only $5000 in its first week, and Coinbase's protocol processed approximately $25 million over 30 days—the overall outlook for stablecoins remains strong. Driven by cross-border settlement and fintech applications, USDC supply and transaction volumes have reached all-time highs, and this asset class is gradually becoming a rapidly growing financial services category.