By Arasu Kannagi Basil and Hannah Lang (Reuters) -Stablecoin issuer Circle Internet's shares more than doubled in their debut on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, firing up the IPO market that has struggled to regain momentum.

In April, Bloomberg reported that Ripple had made an acquisition offer for Circle valued between $4 billion and $5 billion, which was reportedly rejected as undervalued. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse later disputed the report in a conversation with Georgetown Law professor Chris Brummer.