Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

For a company that prides itself on the stablecoin it developed and manages, Circle Internet Group's (CRCL -3.94%) stock has been anything but stable lately. The recent slump in the shares has clearly appealed to the contrarian instincts of top institutional investor Cathie Wood and her Ark Invest team, as they loaded up on Circle shares last week.

These buys totaled $14 million, a considerable sum. Let's take a closer look at this and identify one very attractive quality about Circle stock that's sustaining its bulls.

ARK Investment Management CEO Cathie Wood. Image source: Getty Images.

Unbroken Circle Last Tuesday, Ark Invest added to its existing pile of Circle stock with several new buys totaling 220,012 shares, valued at roughly $13.9 million.

These purchases were spread among three Ark exchange-traded funds (ETFs), with the Ark Innovation ETF taking 159,517 shares, the Ark Next Generation ETF gaining 42,400, and the Ark Blockchain & Fintech Innovation ETF absorbing 18,095.

Ark Invest already held Circle positions in the three ETFs. As of market close on Friday, July 17, with the latest additions, these had grown to:

ETFCRCL holding sizeCRCL weight in portfolioArk Innovation$154 million2.6%Ark Next Generation$54 million3.3%Ark Blockchain & Fintech Innovation$28 million3.2% Data source: cathiesark.com.

Wood and her team are placing what some would consider a risky bet with Circle.

The company's stock has been in the doldrums lately for understandable reasons -- cryptocurrencies have fallen out of favor with investors, and that gloomy sentiment has even seeped into stablecoins (like Circle's USDC), which are pegged to fiat currencies.

On top of that, a formidable consortium of large companies, including Visa and -- somewhat oddly, given that it's the primary manager of the Circle Reserve Fund -- BlackRock, is teaming up on a stablecoin called Open USD that will rival USDC. It's slated for official public launch in the fall.

But recently, a development with Circle has made it significantly more competitive.

Today's Change

(

-3.94

%) $

-2.80

Current Price

$

68.28

Trusted by the Feds Earlier this month, Circle won approval from U.S. federal regulator, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), to establish a national trust bank. For those unfamiliar with banking arcana, a national trust bank is an institution that focuses squarely on managing and safekeeping financial assets.

This could be quite a boon for Circle.

With such an institution under its management, it'll potentially be able to park the sizable U.S. government bond reserve that comprises the Reserve Fund without paying burdensome fees to third parties for the service. And with the OCC as a direct federal regulator of this business, it'll further legitimize stablecoins -- particularly USDC -- as financial instruments

Wood hasn't yet publicly explained her team's rationale for doubling down on Circle, so we can't be sure the charter is a major reason. Either way, it's a strongly favorable development for the company, and it could be a strong driver of its growth in the coming quarters and years.

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire joins CNBC's 'Squawk on the Street' to discuss the company's final OCC approval to operate as a trust bank, the future of the CLARITY Act, and more.

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 13, 2026) - Corcel Exploration Inc. (CSE: CRCL) (OTCQB: CRLEF) (the "Company" or "Corcel") is pleased to announce assay results from two drill holes from the recently completed Phase I drill program at the Yuma King Project (the "Project") located in west-central Arizona.

Drill hole YK26-002 intersected skarn-hosted copper-gold mineralization from a 45-metre step-out to the east of drill hole YK26-001, while YK26-003 intersected skarn-hosted copper-gold mineralization from a 350-metre step-out to the west of drill hole YK26-001. Drill hole YK26-001 previously intersected 56.65 metres of 1.07% Cu, 0.79 g/t Au, 7.1 g/t Ag, and 180 ppm Mo (see news release dated June 1, 2026).

Results are pending from three additional drill holes. The Phase I drill program totaled 1,087 metres across six drill holes and tested more than 500 metres of strike-length.

Highlights

Known mineralized strike length increased by 350 metres, to approximately 900 metres. Results include:YK26-002:

40.25 metres of 0.52% Cu, 0.40 g/t Au, 4.49 g/t Ag, and 85 ppm Mo1 starting at 30 metres downhole, including,

8.75 metres of 0.74% Cu, 0.46 g/t Au, 3.72 g/t Ag, and 46 ppm Mo from 44.25 metres downhole and including,

15.85 metres of 0.70% Cu, 0.59 g/t Au, 8.1 g/t Ag, and 152 ppm Mo from 54.4 metres downhole

YK26-003: Intersected Cu-Au mineralization in a 350 m step-out to the west

32 metres of 0.17% Cu, 0.04 g/t Au, 2.47 g/t Ag, and 25 ppm Mo1 starting at 25 metres downhole, including,

9 metres of 0.25% Cu, 0.09 g/t Au, 3.5 g/t Ag, and 24 ppm Mo from 33 metres downhole and including,

7.33 metres of 0.29% Cu, 0.04 g/t Au, 4.2 g/t Ag, and 36 ppm Mo from 46.6 metres downhole

Drill results support a large mineralized footprint: Drill results from YK26-002 and YK26-003 build on historical drill results and YK26-001, further demonstrating the compelling potential of the Yuma King mine target.

Vectoring to the northwest under cover: Drilling results, geology, geophysics and geochemical results indicate the mineralized system continues to the north and northwest, toward the recently identified North Skarn target, which was delineated by the IP survey conducted earlier this year.

"These results demonstrate continuity of copper-gold skarn mineralization across a broader footprint than previously recognized," commented Corcel CEO, Jon Ward. "Importantly, Hole YK26-03 confirmed mineralization 350 metres west of Hole YK26-01, while Hole YK26-02 extended the higher-grade oxide skarn eastward. Combined with our geophysical data, the program continues to strengthen our interpretation that Yuma King represents a district-scale mineralized system.

The mineralization remains largely open to the north under cover, towards the North Skarn target. As we await the results from the last three holes of this program, we're advancing plans to test this target, as well as two other completely untested copper-gold targets nearby at Three Musketeers and Yuma King West, in a future drill program."

2026 Yuma King Drill Program

The Phase I drill program at the Yuma King project, near Salome, Arizona, consisted of 1,087 metres across six drill holes (Figure 1, Table 2). The remaining three drill holes are currently at the lab and will be released once assays are received, compiled, and interpreted.

Drill hole YK26-002 was designed as a 45-metre step-out to the east from YK26-001 and from historical drill intercepts to test the extension of the mineralized, oxidized skarn. The hole was drilled toward the northeast at a dip of -50o. Based on geological modeling and a review of historical drilling, YK26-002 was planned to expand the known mineralization up-dip to the east from historical mine workings (Figures 1 and 2). YK26-002 intersected a broad zone of near-surface copper-gold-silver mineralization beginning at 30 metres, including 40.25 metres of 0.52% Cu, 0.4 g/t Au, and 4.49 g/t Ag1 (Table 1). Mineralization within this interval consists primarily of copper oxides hosted in copper skarn/replacement style mineralization. The hanging wall, composed of monzonite porphyry, is strongly anomalous in copper, gold, and molybdenum, indicating a connection to a possibly more expansive porphyry-style mineralized system. Results from drill hole YK26-002 compare favorably with historical drilling from the 2006 drill program (e.g., 45.4 metres of 0.78% Cu, 0.53 g/t Au, and 6.3 g/t Ag in drill hole YK-001A, see news release dated October 7, 2025), supporting the continuity of the mineralized oxide skarn along strike and up-dip.

Drill hole YK26-003 was drilled 350-metres to the west of YK26-001 and was drilled to the north at a dip of -60°. The primary objective was to drill the magnetic anomaly to the north, but access limitations allowed only the southern margin of this anomaly to be tested. The drill hole intersected 32 metres of 0.17% Cu, 0.04 g/t Au, and 2.5 g/t Ag1 (Table 1) beginning at 25 metres down hole. This mineralization is similar in tenor to that in historical drill hole AV-1 which encountered 27.4 metres of 0.14% Cu, 0.08 g/t Au, and 1.1 g/t Ag in 2011 (see news release dated October 7, 2025), over 400 metres to the north of YK26-001 and the historical Yuma King mine. The successful step-out to the west and similar mineralization in hole AV-1 to the north may indicate the potential for a large mineralized footprint, still open in multiple directions including towards the untested North Skarn target.

Figure 1. Map showing the collar location of drill holes YK26-002 and YK26-003, in relation to recently completed holes with pending results and to historical drill holes. Location of historical underground workings is shown projected to surface.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8415/304904_corcelfig1.jpg

Figure 2. Section showing the IP resistivity with down-hole assay results from historical drill holes and YK26-001, YK26-002, and YK26-003 that are vectoring northwest towards the recently identified untested North Skarn Target.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8415/304904_7720cee1643c38a7_002full.jpg

Table 1. Assay results from drill holes YK26-001 through YK26-003

DrillholeIntercept From - 
To (m)Intercept Thickness1 (m)Cu (%)Au (g/t)Ag (g/t)Mo (ppm)YK26-001*3.356056.651.070.797.1180including2431.857.852.281.146.8266including4553.88.82.071.8520.5312YK26-0023070.2540.250.520.44.4985including44.25538.750.740.463.7246including54.470.2515.850.70.598.1152YK26-0032557320.1740.042.4725including334290.250.093.57including46.653.937.330.30.044.2107*From previous news release dated June 1, 2026

Intercepts are drilled widths, true widths are unknown and reported intercepts may not reflect true widths. Table 2. Collar information for Phase I drill program

DrillholeEastingNorthingElevationAzimuthDipTotal DepthYK26-0012455243747879640.77341-5091.74YK26-0022455673747870650.3846-50152.4YK26-0032451813747932609.422-60103.3YK26-0042455963747960690.35258-7092.96YK26-005^2456473747967691.33180-55127.41YK26-005A2456473747967691.33180-55245.36YK26-0062456943747893700.4250-50274.32^Hole lost and re-drilled as YK26-005A and was not sampled.

Sampling, Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC)

All sampling was conducted under the supervision of Corcel's geologists, and all drill core analytical results have been monitored through the Company's quality assurance and quality control program (QA/QC). The drill core was sawn in half at Corcel's dedicated and secure core logging and processing facility near Parker, Arizona.

Half of the drill core was sampled and shipped by a bonded courier in sealed and secured woven polyester bags to Agat Laboratories in Calgary, Alberta. Core samples were prepared using standard preparation procedures 200-078 and 200-087 which involve crushing the sample to 80% less than 2mm, followed by a riffle split of 250g, and then a pulverised split to better than 85%, passing 75 microns.

Following sample preparation, the pulps were sent to the Agat Laboratories in Calgary, Alberta for analysis. Agat is registered to ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accreditations for laboratory procedures.

Drill core samples were analyzed for 48 elements, including Cu, Ag, Mo by ICP-OES/MS on a 0.2-gram aliquot using a four-acid digestion (method 201-071 and 201-470 for over-limit results). Gold was analyzed by fire assay on a 50-gram aliquot with an AAS (Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy) finish (method 202-551).

In addition to Agat Laboratories QA/QC protocols, Corcel implements a rigorous internal QA/QC program that includes the insertion of field and lab duplicates, certified reference materials (standards prepared by an independent lab) and blanks into the sample stream. Data verification of the analytical results includes a statistical analysis of the standards and blanks that must pass certain parameters for acceptance to ensure accurate and verifiable results, and the procedures and results are considered acceptable.

Technical Disclosure

Roy Greig, Ph.D., P.Geo, a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, and advisor to Corcel Exploration Inc. has reviewed and approved the technical information in this news release.

About Corcel Exploration Inc.

Corcel Exploration is a mineral resource company engaged in the acquisition and exploration of precious and base metals properties throughout North America. The Company has entered a long-term lease agreement to acquire the Yuma King Cu-Au project in Arizona, which spans a district-scale land position of 3,200 hectares comprising 515 unpatented federal mining claims in the Ellsworth Mining District, including the past-producing Yuma King Mine which saw underground production of copper, lead, gold and silver between 1940 and 1963. For more information, please visit our website at https://corcelexploration.com/.

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking information"). Forward-looking information in this news release includes, without limitation, statements with respect to: the expected receipt, compilation, and interpretation of additional assay results from the remaining three drill holes of the Phase I drill program at the Project; the potential for the expansion of known copper-gold-silver mineralized zones at the Yuma King mine target; the potential for the Project to host large-scale, near-surface copper-gold mineralization; the Company's plans to conduct future drilling and other exploration work at the Project, including any Phase II drill program; the anticipated timing, scope, and objectives of such work; the ability to secure permits, approvals, community support and financing on acceptable terms; and the potential for the Project to host an economic mining operation in the future.

Forward-looking information is based on a number of assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company at the date of this news release, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, operational and regulatory uncertainties and contingencies. These assumptions include, without limitation: future commodity prices and exchange rates; availability of financing on reasonable terms; availability of equipment, personnel and infrastructure; maintenance of title and access to properties; obtaining all required regulatory, surface and community approvals on expected terms and within expected timelines; accuracy of current technical information; and the absence of material adverse changes in applicable laws, political conditions, taxation, or capital markets.

Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. Such risks include, without limitation: commodity price volatility; exploration, development, metallurgical and geological risk; permitting, environmental and regulatory risk; title and access risk; financing and liquidity risk; reliance on contractors and third parties; community, ESG and social license risk; political and security risk in foreign jurisdictions; operational disruptions, accidents and labour matters; changes in laws and taxation; dilution and capital markets risk; and the other risks more fully described under "Risk Factors" in the Company's continuous disclosure filings available under its profile at www.sedarplus.ca.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/304904

Source: Corcel Exploration Inc.

Ready to Announce with Confidence? Send us a message and a member of our TMX Newsfile team will contact you to discuss your needs.

Contact Us

Circle Internet Group (Nasdaq: CRCL), the stablecoin issuer behind USDC, said today that it has received federal approval to operate as a specific type of bank.

The move marks a major milestone in the further legitimization of digital assets like cryptocurrencies. But don’t expect to be opening a Circle checking account anytime soon. Here’s what you need to know.

What’s happened?Today, Circle Internet Group announced that it has received approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to operate as a national trust bank. The OCC is an independent division of the U.S. Treasury, and its role is to oversee and regulate all national banks.

As Circle notes, the OCC’s approval and its designation as a national trust bank represent “a major U.S. regulatory milestone” for USDC, the world’s largest regulated stablecoin.

Subscribe to the Daily newsletter.Fast Company's trending stories delivered to you every day

Not only does the consent give Circle the highest level of institutional credibility it can receive—the OCC’s stamp of approval—it brings Circle’s regulation under a federal umbrella, meaning the company, acting as a national trust bank, doesn’t have to worry about complying with a patchwork of regulations across all 50 individual states.

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said the move “marks a defining step in bringing blockchain technology and digital assets into the core of the U.S. financial system.”

“Federal oversight of our trust bank sets a new standard for transparency, governance, and scale for Circle’s infrastructure and unlocks a new phase of adoption, where leading financial institutions can build on public blockchains with clarity and confidence,” he added.

Explore Topicscirclecryptomarketsstocks

Circle Internet Group (CRCL +5.30%), the company behind the stablecoin, USDC, has been granted permission to operate its own national trust bank. On July 10, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) -- the federal agency that charters and supervises national banks -- gave Circle the go-ahead to establish one.

Today's Change

(

5.30

%) $

3.34

Current Price

$

66.35

The new entity is legally named First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A., but will do business as Circle National Trust.

What a national trust bank actually doesA national trust bank can hold and safeguard assets for customers, but it can’t take deposits or make loans the way a normal commercial bank does. The official greenlight means Circle can now operate under a single federal regulator, the OCC, rather than a patchwork of state-level supervision.

For now, the trust bank will provide custody -- holding and safeguarding assets -- only for Circle and its affiliates. Under the approved plan, Circle can later expand that custody service to a limited number of outside institutional customers, like banks and regulated derivatives firms, if there's demand.

CEO Jeremy Allaire called the approval "a defining step" for the company's infrastructure.

How Circle makes money from USDCTo understand why this matters, it helps to understand how Circle makes its money. The company issues USDC -- pegged one-for-one to the U.S. dollar -- and backed by reserves of cash and short-term Treasuries. Circle earns interest on those reserves -- $652.5 million last quarter. This makes up the vast majority of Circle's total revenue.

By owning a federally chartered trust bank, Circle will be able to manage its own reserves, something it currently pays others to do for it. Those fees would no longer be flowing out, boosting Circle’s bottom line.

And a single, clear federal regulator overseeing its operations could further reduce inefficiencies and provide clarity for potential clients. After all, the rules for stablecoins are still being written.

The regulatory backdrop behind this approvalThe approval comes about a year after the GENIUS Act was passed by Congress last July. The law set the first federal framework for stablecoins, requiring issuers like Circle to hold 100% reserves in cash or short-term Treasuries and to disclose their reserve makeup monthly.

Image Source: Getty Images

Circle actually first filed for the trust charter back in June 2025 and received conditional approval in December. This is the official green light.

What this means for Circle investorsThe full charter helps solidify Circle’s position in the stablecoin market and narrows Circle's regulatory risk. It will help validate Circle’s legitimacy in traditional finance circles.

That said, investors need to be aware of the risks here. Circle's revenue is heavily tied to interest rates: reserve income depends on the yield Circle earns on Treasuries, and that reserve return rate already slipped to 3.5% last quarter, down from a year earlier.

If rates fall, so does the income. On top of that, Circle hands a large share of USDC income to Coinbase under a distribution deal, capping how much of that reserve income Circle actually keeps.

The approval is a genuine milestone for Circle's standing with regulators. Whether it moves the needle on the business depends on how much this actually translates to increased demand, especially from institutional partners.

Circle Internet Group (NYSE:CRCL) shares rose 7% after the company announced it received approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish its own national trust bank, a move aimed at strengthening the infrastructure supporting its USDC stablecoin.

The company said the OCC approved the establishment of First National Digital Currency Bank, which will operate under the name Circle National Trust. The bank will operate under direct federal oversight from the OCC, which regulates national banks and national trust banks.

Circle said the approval will allow Circle National Trust to provide fiduciary digital asset custody services for Circle and its affiliates when it begins operations. The bank’s approved business plan also allows for the possibility of eventually offering custody services to a limited number of institutional clients, including banks and other financial institutions.

The company said the charter is also designed to support potential future capabilities, including management of the USDC Reserve, which would place those operations under federal regulatory oversight.

“OCC approval to establish Circle National Trust marks a defining step in bringing blockchain technology and digital assets into the core of the U.S. financial system,” Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said in a statement.

“Federal oversight of our trust bank sets a new standard for transparency, governance, and scale for Circle’s infrastructure and unlocks a new phase of adoption, where leading financial institutions can build on public blockchains with clarity and confidence.”

Circle said the national trust bank structure aligns digital asset custody operations with the framework used by traditional national trust banks, including fiduciary standards for safeguarding client assets.

The $25K Day Trading Barrier is Gone

The long-standing Pattern Day Trader (PDT) rule that required many traders to maintain a $25,000 account balance is no longer standing in the way.

That means more traders can actively pursue short-term opportunities without the barrier that kept so many on the sidelines.

Now it's all about having the right strategy.

Dynamite Day Trading Signals helps you hit the ground running with up 2 options trade alerts per week, built to capture fast-moving opportunities.  

👉 Sign up now to receive the next trade

A screen shows the logo of Circle, the issuer of one of the world's biggest stablecoins, on the day of the company's IPO at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), in New York City, U.S., June 5,... Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab Read more

CompaniesJuly 10 (Reuters) - Circle (CRCL.N), opens new tab said on Friday it has received a final regulatory approval from the U.S. Office of ​the Comptroller of the Currency to establish a ‌national trust bank, sending the stablecoin giant's shares surging 10% in premarket trading.

Here are some details:

Jumpstart your morning with the latest legal news delivered straight to your inbox from The Daily Docket newsletter. Sign up here.

The charter allows Circle ​to act as custodian for its own reserves ​and hold crypto assets on behalf of institutional ⁠clients.

"OCC approval to establish Circle National Trust marks ​a defining step in bringing blockchain technology and digital ​assets into the core of the U.S. financial system," Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said in a statement.

Circle said the approval places ​its trust bank under direct federal oversight by ​the OCC, the primary regulator for lenders and national trust banks.

As ‌regulatory ⁠hurdles eased, digital asset firms have expanded into traditional finance, pursuing banking licenses, custody businesses and payment services over the past year.

Circle issues USDC, a dollar-pegged ​stablecoin. Stablecoins ​are cryptocurrencies ⁠designed to maintain a fixed value, usually through a 1:1 peg to the U.S. ​dollar, and are widely used to transfer ​funds ⁠between crypto tokens.

USDC has a market value of about $73.2 billion, according to CoinGecko.

Circle shares have fallen 20.5% so ⁠far ​this year, through last close, ​giving it a market capitalization of about $15.7 billion, according to LSEG data.

Reporting ​by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Elliptic, the global leader in digital asset intelligence, today announced that an affiliate of Circle Internet Group, Inc. (‘Circle’) (NYSE:CRCL) has joined its Agentic Design Partner Program, bringing together infrastructure providers, compliance teams, and technology leaders to help shape compliance solutions for autonomous, AI-driven financial activity.

This momentum follows an investment from Circle Ventures, the corporate venture arm of Circle, and builds on a longstanding collaboration between the companies. Circle has been an Elliptic customer for multiple years and has expanded its use of Elliptic’s compliance capabilities across a range of digital asset initiatives.

As stablecoins, tokenized assets, and AI-powered applications become increasingly integrated into financial services, new compliance challenges are emerging. Elliptic’s agentic compliance layer addresses these challenges by combining unique datasets, a scalable query platform and a set of agents that can detect and process alerts at the speed of AI. These capabilities are designed to help organizations maintain auditable, compliance-ready oversight as autonomous systems increasingly participate in financial activity.

The Agentic Design Partner Program reflects how Elliptic builds agentic compliance solutions. Elliptic believes agentic AI in regulated industries cannot be designed in isolation and must be built continuously with the compliance teams who operate it because the transaction patterns, behavioral signals and failure modes of autonomous agents have no equivalent in human-paced finance. Agentic Design partners can contribute real alert volumes, live transaction data and production-scale edge cases. In return, they help shape Elliptic's roadmap, get first access to new capabilities and help define the standard before the rest of the market catches up.

Circle’s participation in the Agentic Design Partner Program provides Elliptic with operational insights and real-world feedback as it develops solutions for emerging onchain financial workflows.

“As autonomous systems increasingly participate in financial activity, compliance and risk management must evolve alongside them. We’re excited to support Elliptic as they develop infrastructure designed to help enterprises navigate these emerging challenges and build more confidently in an increasingly autonomous onchain economy.” - Brian Schultz, Vice President of Corporate Development and Ventures at Circle.

"The compliance challenge for agentic on-chain finance is not theoretical. It is being solved right now, by the teams building the infrastructure. Other vendors in this space are now claiming agentic compliance. The difference is where you build it. We are building with Circle from inside the infrastructure agents will run on, not shipping a product from the outside and hoping it fits. Circle’s participation in our Agentic Design Partner Program and Circle Ventures’ investment reinforce the importance of building agentic compliance infrastructure from within the systems and workflows these applications will rely on." Simone Maini, CEO, Elliptic

About Elliptic

Elliptic is the leader in digital asset decisioning, we have built the most comprehensive platform for efficiently extracting cryptoasset data and intelligence across blockchains with the greatest accuracy.

Our platform’s unrivalled uptime, scalability, depth and breadth of our data and intelligence means exacting organizations choose Elliptic for their compliance, risk management, intelligence operations and blockchain infrastructure needs.

Founded in 2013, Elliptic is headquartered in London with offices in New York, Washington D.C., Miami, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo. To learn more, visit www.elliptic.co and follow us on LinkedIn and X.

On June 30, a coalition of more than 140 financial, tech, and retail giants -- including Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, BlackRock, Coinbase (COIN +2.28%), Alphabet's Google, and Shopify -- backed a new stablecoin called Open USD (OUSD).

Shares of Circle (CRCL +5.45%), the fintech company that mints the USD Coin (USDC +0.01%) stablecoin, immediately plummeted after the announcement. Let's see why Circle's stock dropped, and whether that pullback is a buying opportunity for patient investors.

Image source: Getty Images.

Why is OUSD an existential threat to USDC? Circle backs the USD Coin with its own cash and U.S. Treasury holdings. Most of its revenue comes from the interest earned on those assets. OUSD aims to disrupt that business model by sharing that reserve income with its ecosystem partners that distribute and use its coins. Therefore, companies now have a major reason to use OUSD instead of USDC.

Unlike USDC, which is only managed by Circle, OUSD is managed by an independent board of partners. That decentralized governance democratizes the control of the stablecoin, making it much more appealing to companies that don't want Circle calling all the shots.

Today's Change

(

5.45

%) $

3.52

Current Price

$

68.14

OUSD also aims to provide zero-cost minting and redemptions with no volume limits. Those perks could undermine Circle's fee structures and reduce the operational friction that institutional investors often experience when moving their capital across Circle's platform.

Lastly, Coinbase's decision to sign on as a partner for OUSD is a bright red flag, since it was also a founding partner of USDC. Coinbase currently retains all interest income on USDC held on its platform and pays half of its residual reserve income to Circle. The crucial revenue-sharing partnership will expire on Aug. 18. If Coinbase refuses to renew that deal and goes all-in on OUSD instead, Circle's stock could drop even further.

Is it the right time to buy Circle's stock? OUSD will launch by the end of 2026, and its pending arrival could generate unpredictable headwinds for Circle over the next few years.

From 2025 to 2028, analysts expect Circle's revenue to nearly double and its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) to more than double. If those estimates are accurate, then its stock is still a bargain at three times next year's sales and 14 times its adjusted EBITDA. But if OUSD's arrival forces those analysts to hastily reduce their estimates, Circle could actually be overvalued relative to its growth potential.

It's still too early to assume that OUSD will pull companies away from USDC, but that existential threat makes Circle a lot less appealing. Investors should wait to see how Circle responds -- and if Coinbase renews its revenue-sharing agreement -- before buying the stock.

Leo Sun has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, BlackRock, Mastercard, Shopify, and Visa. The Motley Fool recommends Coinbase Global. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Shrugging aside an analyst's bearish new opinion on Circle Internet Group (CRCL +5.47%), investors are bidding the company's shares higher today. A popular growth investor made several investments in Circle, an issuer and operator of stablecoins, yesterday, and that seems to be sufficient motivation for investors to click the buy button themselves today.

As of 10:31 a.m ET, Circle shares are up 7.3%, retreating from an earlier 11.8% rise.

Image source: Getty Images.

July rolled in, and Ark Invest interest in Circle heated up After the market closed yesterday, Ark Invest, led by Cathie Wood, reported that several of its exchange-traded funds (ETFs) had acquired Circle shares during the day.

Today's Change

(

5.47

%) $

3.39

Current Price

$

65.34

Targeting a wide range of disruptive companies, the Ark Innovation ETF bought 210,343 shares of Circle, now accounting for 2.9% of the fund's weighting. Similarly, the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF bought 53,846 Circle shares, giving the stock a 2.9% weighting in the fund, which invests in companies that operate mostly in the cloud. Lastly, Ark Invest bought 23,420 Circle shares -- resulting in a 4.1% weighting in the Ark Blockchain and Fintech Innovation ETF, which invests in various blockchain and fintech companies.

Goldman Sachs analyst James Yaro lowered the firm's price target on Circle Internet to $96 from $111

Should investors round up capital to invest in Circle stock now? While Ark Invest's enthusiasm for Circle stock is noteworthy, potential investors should also recognize that some analysts are less optimistic about its prospects. Above all, investors should remember the perils of blindly following one investor's lead. Cathie Wood is bullish on the future of cryptocurrency, but investing in it (or in companies that operate it, like Circle) is speculative and will not meet the lower risk tolerance thresholds of conservative investors.

Scott Levine has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Goldman Sachs Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

© robertcicchetti / Getty Images

Pre-Market Stock Futures: Futures are trading lower as we get ready to start the third quarter after a record-setting second quarter that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average close at 52,317, up 0.26% to finish the venerable index’s best first half since 2021, while the Nasdaq finished the session at 26,213, up 1.52% for the tech-heavy index’s best quarterly finish since 2020. The S&P 500 closed the day at 7,499, up 0.79% for its best-performing quarter since 2020, and lastly, the small-cap Russell 2000, which is the leading index this year, up more than 21%, was last seen at 3,025, up 0.51% for its best first half of the year since 1991. These results are staggering: we had a 10% correction earlier this year, and the Magnificent 7, which led the market for the last three years, has underperformed the broader S&P 500 so far in 2026. While the strength could continue into the third quarter, stocks are currently in overbought territory and could see a summer slump.

Treasury Bonds: Yields were higher across the Treasury curve to finish the first half of 2026, with only the shortest T-bill maturities seeing some light buying on Tuesday. Most traders are waiting for news from the Qatar peace negotiations, and also Thursday’s non-farm payrolls, which the Kashi markets are predicting will come in below expectations after a huge report in May. The 30-year Treasury bond closed at 4.94%, while the benchmark 10-year note was last at 4.45%. 

Oil and Gas: After rallying yesterday, the sellers returned to the energy complex on Tuesday, as final positions were settled for the second quarter. The energy sector had a strong first half of 2026, up over 21%, rebounding from a sluggish 2025 to become one of the S&P 500’s best-performing groups, led again by refiners. Rising oil prices, tightening supply amid geopolitical tensions, and investors favoring companies with strong current cash flow over speculative growth bets remain the place to be. Though energy remains cyclical and exposed to risks such as a potential recession or shifting OPEC supply, it has pulled back significantly from the March highs and currently offers a very solid entry point. Brent Crude closed the session at $73.43, down 0.65%, while West Texas Intermediate was last seen at $70.08, down 0.95%. Natural gas rebounded from Monday’s selling to finish the day at $3.26%, up 2.2%.

Gold After a solid start to the Tuesday session, precious metals turned lower in the afternoon and finished the day mixed. Gold experienced a volatile first half of 2026, characterized by a massive early-year rally to record highs followed by a sharp mid-year correction. While most on Wall Street remain positive on the sector, we could see more sideways trading as both Gold and Silver continue to form a base at current levels. The final trade for Gold on Tuesday was reported at $4,010, down 0.15%, while Silver was last seen at $58.64, up 0.80%. 

Crypto: On Tuesday, the cryptocurrency market moved lower, with Bitcoin sliding to around $58,500. Major tracking platforms showed midday declines of roughly 1.5% to 3%. After opening near $60,150, the sector remained under pressure from sustained end-of-quarter ETF outflows and a steady supply of newly mined coins, which continued to dampen broader risk appetite. At 8 AM EDT, Bitcoin was quoted at $58,573, while Ethereum was trading at $1,570.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports every day to identify fresh investment ideas for investors and traders alike. These daily analyst notes include recommendations on stocks to buy, sell, or avoid, as well as new coverage initiations. Important reminder: No single analyst report should ever be the sole basis for buying or selling a stock.

Here are some of the best Wall Street analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen on Wednesday, July 1, 2026.  

Upgrades: Abivax (NASDAQ: ABVX) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies, which lifted the target price for the shares to $158 from $108. Circle Internet Group (NYSE: CRCL | CRCL Price Prediction) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Compass Point, which dropped the target price for the shares to $55 from $97. Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup, which bumped the target price for the defense giant to $582 from $571. Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Guggenheim, with a $228 target price objective. ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Guggenheim, with a $125 target price. Downgrades: Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE: CFR) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James, without a target price. Dow (NYSE: DOW) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital, which slashed the target price for the shares to $28 from $51. PROG Holdings (NYSE: PRG) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Loop Capital, with an unchanged price target of $48. Simon Property Group (NYSE: SPG) was cut to Peer Perform from Outperform at Wolfe Research, without a target price. Truist Financial (NYSE: TFC) was cut to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James, without a target price. Initiations: Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) was initiated with an Outperform rating at Baird, which has a $121 target price for the stock. Kratos Defense and Security Solutions (NASDAQ: KTOS) was started with an Outperform rating at Wedbush, which has a $95 target price for the shares. Seadrill (NYSE: SDRL) was started with an Overweight rating at Capital One, with a $55 target price objective. Space Exploration Technologies (NASDAQ: SPCX) was initiated with an Outperform rating at Wedbush with a $190 target price. Starz Entertainment (NASDAQ: STRZ) was initiated with a Buy rating at B. Rilet, with a $45 target price. 

Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Salesforce didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

The SpaceX NASDAQ: SPCX IPO and the space sector itself are a useful reminder about the power of a story in the growth of stocks. Whether an investor can visualize the space economy of 2040 or not, every investor has to understand that the story of space is still in its early stages. The same is true of quantum computing.

Yet, in both cases, the underlying technology has been around for years. The same can be said about artificial intelligence and blockchain. The two ideas are mature ideas by themselves, but it’s the convergence of the two that could be a defining technological shift.

Get Coinbase Global alerts:

Defining the RoadmapSomeday, humanoid robots may handle a variety of daily tasks for a large swath of the population. For now, enterprise customers and even some small- and mid-size businesses have agentic AI (i.e., AI agents). These agents allow users to outsource and automate tasks.

But for many “retail users” of AI, the experience is still in a generative state. A large language model (LLM) can answer questions, write code, or generate images. But in the future, consumers will be able to have AI serve as both a personal shopper and a concierge. It will find the best flight and hotel and book the reservations for you.

That will require a level of trust and infrastructure that’s still being built. But like much that has to do with technology, change is coming fast. The good news for investors is that there’s still time to get in on stocks that are key to this buildout.

The Purest Play on AI Agent PaymentsCoinbase Global NASDAQ: COIN is one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges. That makes it a proxy for Bitcoin and other digital assets. Not surprisingly, COIN is down over 50% in the last 12 months as the crypto winter waits for a thaw.

Coinbase Global Today

$142.52 -7.59 (-5.06%)

As of 06/25/2026 04:00 PM Eastern

52-Week Range$139.36▼

$444.64P/E Ratio53.58

Price Target$250.65

But this is where the opportunity lies for patient investors. That’s because Coinbase holds a unique position in the digital asset ecosystem. 

Coinbase has been pushing into "agentic commerce" territory directly, including work on payment protocols designed to let AI agents transact autonomously using stablecoins.

Coinbase is the most direct publicly traded proxy for AI agents that need blockchain rails—payments, wallets, and digital assets—to transact, and it's likely to be at the forefront of that space.

The Coinbase analyst forecasts on MarketBeat give COIN a consensus price target of around $250, which would be an upside of more than 60% from the stock’s closing price on June 24.

Built From the Ground Up for the Agentic EconomyIf Coinbase is the exchange layer, Circle Internet Group NYSE: CRCL may be the rails themselves. Circle is the issuer of USDC, the world's second-largest stablecoin with approximately $77 billion in circulation as of Q1 2026—a 28% year-over-year increase.

Circle Internet Group Today

CRCL

Circle Internet Group

$68.69 -2.29 (-3.22%)

As of 06/25/2026 03:59 PM Eastern

This is a fair market value price provided by Massive. Learn more.

52-Week Range$49.90▼

$262.97Price Target$134.18

In May 2026, Circle launched its Agent Stack. This is a full suite of developer tools designed specifically for the agentic economy. The product lineup includes a Nanopayments protocol capable of facilitating high-frequency, sub-cent, machine-to-machine payments, which is simply not possible on traditional banking rails. It’s one way Circle is rebuilding a financial infrastructure that was built for people, with manual onboarding and approval flows that software acting autonomously cannot navigate.

The business fundamentals back the thesis. In Q1 2026, Circle reported $694 million in revenue, up 20% year-over-year. USDC on-chain transaction volume surged 263% YOY to $21.5 trillion in the quarter. That’s an indication of the stablecoin economy at scale.

CRCL went public in 2025 at $31 per share and briefly traded above $260 before pulling back. Shares were trading near $80 as of mid-June 2026. The Circle analyst forecasts on MarketBeat have a consensus price target near $134, implying roughly 85% upside from current levels.

The stock doesn’t come without risks. Circle's reserve income is tied to the Fed's rate policy. Plus, the company does face competition from Tether as well as regulatory uncertainty around stablecoin legislation.

A Sleeping Giant Wakes Up to Agentic CommercePayPal Holdings NASDAQ: PYPL operates a two-sided network connecting more than 430 million active consumer and merchant accounts worldwide. It also issues its own stablecoin, PayPal USD (PYUSD), now available in 70 countries and deployed across 13 blockchain networks.

PayPal Today

$42.38 -0.10 (-0.24%)

As of 06/25/2026 04:00 PM Eastern

52-Week Range$38.46▼

$79.50Dividend Yield1.32%

P/E Ratio7.95

Price Target$55.85

In October 2025, PayPal launched its Agentic Commerce Services suite, including "Agent Ready,” a payment solution designed to let AI shopping agents transact on behalf of consumers and "Store Sync," which makes merchant catalogs discoverable by AI agents.

PayPal also acquired Cymbio, a multi-channel orchestration platform, to deepen that capability. The company has since partnered with Hey Savi to launch the first agentic commerce app in the U.K.

PayPal's PYUSD stablecoin is also being extended into AI infrastructure finance.

Through a partnership with USD.AI, PYUSD is being used to fund GPU purchases and data center development—denominated in stablecoin, disbursed directly into PayPal accounts.

The PayPal analyst forecasts on MarketBeat show a consensus Hold, with a consensus price target around $56. That suggests healthy upside from current levels, but it may underweight PayPal's optionality in the agentic commerce buildout. The risk here is execution: PayPal is a large company attempting a significant pivot in a competitive market. Patient investors may find the risk/reward compelling.

The Risk Investors Need to UnderstandIn fairness, many people would consider AI’s current limitations (vis-à-vis making payments) as a good sign. There will be resistance to the idea and likely regulation.

However, many consumers swore they would never do online banking. Meanwhile, at least one generation is likely to go through life without writing a single check or knowing how to do so. That's the way technological shifts work.

Along the way, there were many stocks that made investors significant profits, even the investors who didn’t “trust” the technology. This is why investors with a long time horizon should look at stocks leading the way in building the financial infrastructure for agentic AI. The future will be here before we know it, whether we can see it or not.

Should You Invest $1,000 in Coinbase Global Right Now?Before you consider Coinbase Global, you'll want to hear this.

MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Coinbase Global wasn't on the list.

While Coinbase Global currently has a Hold rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.

View The Five Stocks Here

Unlock the timeless value of gold with our exclusive 2026 Gold Forecasting Report. Explore why gold remains the ultimate investment for safeguarding wealth against inflation, economic shifts, and global uncertainties. Whether you're planning for future generations or seeking a reliable asset in turbulent times, this report is your essential guide to making informed decisions.

Get This Free Report

Circle Internet Group stock price has pulled back in the past few days, moving from a high of $138.5 in May to the current $79.72. This CRCL pullback may continue in the near future as it faces a triple-whammy of weak technicals, falling USDC supply, and US government yields. 

Technicals suggest that the CRCL stock has retreated in the past few weeks, moving from a high of $138.50 in May to $79.7, its lowest level since March 2nd this year. That is a sign that it has moved to a technical bear market.

Most importantly, the stock has formed a double-top pattern whose height is $51 ($135 minus $84). Subtracting the height pattern’s height from the neckline of $79, gives it a target of $28. If this happens, the stock will have dropped by 90% from its all-time high. This view will be confirmed if it drops below the all-time low of $50.

Other technicals are bearish on the stock. For example, it remains below the 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA), while the Relative Strength Index (RSI) has fallen to 37. 

The stock is also slowly forming a bearish flag pattern, which is made up of a vertical line and a small horizontal channel. 

CRCL stock chart | Source: TradingView

The other main risk that the company is facing is that USDC, its main asset, has dropped in the past few weeks. Data compiled by CoinMarketCap shows that the supply of the USDC token has dropped from $79.3 billion in March to $74 billion today. Artemis data places the number at $76 billion.

The falling USDC supply is notable because of Circle’s business model. Like other stablecoin issuers, the company makes its money by investing the funds in US government bonds. It is a model similar to how banks make money, with the only difference being that it is not allowed to invest in other assets like commercial bonds. 

This business model means that the company is not benefiting from the rising usage. Artemis data shows that the volume jumped by 15% in the last 30 days to over $2.6 trillion, while the number of active addresses rose to 16 million.

The ongoing USDC supply has also coincided with a continued decline in U.S. government bond yields, alongside a retreat in crude oil and natural gas prices. Data shows that the two-year yield has fallen from 4.20% earlier this month to 4.05%. The five-year yield has dropped to 4.155% from its year-to-date high of 4.35%. It has also formed a double-top pattern, suggesting further downside potential.

US bond yields have eased recently after the US inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Iran. This MoU will lead to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, which explains why crude oil prices have pulled back in the past few days. As such, there is a possibility that the Fed will not have the urgency to hike interest rates.

As such, Circle Internet Group is facing the double-whammy of falling assets and interest rates, which will affect its revenue growth. 

The company is also facing another challenge: Arc. Arc, its layer-1 network, may face the challenges that have been faced by other chains like Ethereum, Solana, and BNB Chain. Most of these chains have seen a sharp retreat in its total value locked (TVL). As such, after raising $222 million from BlackRock and Apollo, there is a risk that the token will retreat after its debut.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Circle Internet Group, Inc. (NYSE: CRCL) announced today that Jeremy Allaire, Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, will participate in a fireside chat at the Bernstein 42nd Annual Strategic Decisions Conference on Thursday, May 28, 2026 at 8:00am ET. The live audio webcast of the session will be available on Circle's Investor Relations website at www.circle.com/investors. For those unable to listen to the live webcast, a replay will be available on our we.

Image: Bigstock

Read MoreHide Full Article

An updated edition of the April 2, 2026, article.

Cryptocurrencies are digital assets created and stored electronically using blockchain technology, which enables a decentralized payment system. Popular cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether operate on blockchain networks that rely on advanced cryptography and software to maintain a secure, immutable and decentralized database. This technology enhances security by creating tamper-resistant transaction records while accurately tracking ownership. The security and decentralized nature of blockchain have been key factors driving the rapid growth and adoption of cryptocurrencies.

Year to date, cryptocurrencies have remained highly volatile amid challenging macroeconomic conditions, evolving regulations and shifting investor sentiment. Bitcoin rebounded above the $70,000 mark after a prolonged consolidation period, supported by renewed institutional inflows into Bitcoin ETFs and improving market confidence. Ethereum also gained momentum following technological upgrades that enhanced scalability and user experience. At the same time, regulators across major economies intensified efforts to establish clearer frameworks for digital assets, particularly stablecoins and crypto exchanges.

The most significant development came from the United States, where the GENIUS Act established the first federal regulatory framework for payment stablecoins. The legislation requires issuers to maintain 1:1 reserve backing, comply with disclosure requirements and operate under federal or state supervision. This development benefits companies such as Circle Internet Group (CRCL - Free Report) , issuer of the USDC stablecoin. U.S. policymakers also advanced the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, which seeks to define the regulatory responsibilities of the SEC and CFTC in overseeing crypto assets. These developments are expected to benefit Coinbase (COIN - Free Report) , Robinhood (HOOD - Free Report) , CME Group (CME - Free Report) and Visa (V - Free Report) .

Meanwhile, blockchain technology continues to evolve rapidly. Layer 2 and Layer 3 solutions are enabling faster and cheaper transactions, while cross-chain systems are improving interoperability among Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana networks. However, rising security concerns remain a challenge, especially after Google warned that quantum computing could potentially break existing crypto security systems by 2029, accelerating the push toward quantum-resistant blockchain technology.

Our Cryptocurrencies & Blockchain Screen is an invaluable source for identifying crypto and blockchain stocks with massive growth prospects.

Explore 37 cutting-edge investment themes with Zacks Thematic Investing Screens and uncover your next big opportunity.

3 Crypto & Blockchain Stocks to Watch Right Now

Visa has positioned itself as a “hyperscaling bridge layer” between stablecoins/blockchain infrastructure and real-world commerce. Consumers are increasingly using stablecoin-linked Visa cards to spend cryptocurrencies at merchants where Visa is accepted, while businesses are using them for purchases like digital advertising and supplies. Visa now has more than 160 stablecoin card programs globally, and payment volume from these programs grew nearly 200% year over year in the second quarter of fiscal 2026. Visa is enabling financial institutions to settle transactions using stablecoins 24/7 instead of only through traditional fiat systems during business days. The company added five additional blockchains for settlement and said its stablecoin settlement volume is running at a $7 billion annualized rate, growing more than 50% sequentially.

Visa is becoming an active participant in blockchain networks by acting as a validator and super validator on networks like Tempo and Canton. This Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company is also providing value-added services to crypto-native companies and traditional financial institutions that want to expand stablecoin offerings, creating additional revenue opportunities. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

CME Group is investing heavily in crypto-related infrastructure, including tokenized cash, tokenized collateral, and an expected CME stablecoin. These initiatives are expected to improve collateral mobility, reduce settlement friction, enable movement of value outside traditional banking hours, and support 24/7 trading activity. CME believes this will strengthen its clearing ecosystem and increase margin and capital efficiencies for clients.

This Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company will launch 24/7 crypto trading on May 29, which signals a major expansion in cryptocurrency market access. This will help CME capture more global and retail trading activity. Prediction markets tied to crypto products are attracting new users, with crypto-related contracts contributing to more than 30% of market-based prediction market volume since mid-March. Management emphasized that crypto-linked prediction markets and micro products are helping CME attract a “next-generation trader.” The company disclosed that more than 150,000 new accounts have traded CME products since launching prediction markets in December 2025, with crypto among the key market categories driving engagement.

Coinbase benefits from steady on-chain adoption as it expands the Everything Exchange and deepens stablecoin and Base use cases. Management highlighted that USDC adoption continues to accelerate, with Coinbase holding more than 25% of all USDC in its products and capturing roughly 50% of USDC economics. The company reported that stablecoin transaction volume doubled during the first quarter of 2026 and that Base became the dominant chain for stablecoin transactions with a 62% market share.

Coinbase is expanding beyond traditional crypto trading through its Everything Exchange strategy. The company has added stock trading, prediction markets, commodities, and derivatives trading, creating new revenue streams. Coinbase, on its first-quarter earnings call, said that derivatives trading surpassed a $200 million annualized revenue run rate, while prediction markets reached a $100 million annualized run rate just two months after launch. This diversification helps this Zacks Rank #3 stock benefit from broader cryptocurrency adoption while reducing dependence on spot crypto trading alone.

Zacks' 7 Best Strong Buy Stocks (New Research Report) Valued at $99, click below to receive our just-released report predicting the 7 stocks that will soar highest in the coming month.

Click Here, It's Really Free

Published in blockchain cryptocurrency

© TY Lim / Shutterstock.com

Ran Neuner sat down with Scott Melker on The Wolf Of All Streets podcast and laid out a chart pattern that should make every Bitcoin bull pause. The episode title says it plainly: “Bitcoin To $40K? Saylor’s Big Bet Is Breaking.” The thesis hinges on a single uncomfortable observation about 2022 that most investors have forgotten: the second leg down was significantly worse than the first.

The 2022 Pattern, Step by Step Neuner walked through the structure: “If you look at 2022 again, you had like the drop, you had the bear flag, you had the drop, you had a bear flag again, then you actually had the very big drop.”

The numbers behind that sequence matter. The first drop in 2022 was roughly 43%. The second drop, which came after Bitcoin retested the bear flag and tagged the 200-day moving average, was approximately 62%. That is the part the bulls tend to gloss over. The pattern did not exhaust itself on the first flush. The Luna/Terra event in May set the stage, and the FTX collapse in November delivered the deeper wound.

Today’s Mirror Image Neuner’s framing of the current chart was direct: “Now let’s go back to today’s chart. And unfortunately, it looks like a mirror image.” Bitcoin has just kissed the 200-day moving average and fallen back into a bear flag, the same setup that preceded the larger 2022 capitulation. As he put it, “If it looks like a duck and it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, then you gotta make an assumption that it’s probably a duck.”

The price action supports the structural concern. Bitcoin trades at $76,600.87 as of May 24, 2026, down 12% year to date and 29% over the past year from a starting point of $107,794.01. Polymarket’s $75,000 dip market for May already resolved YES, confirming the downside test has begun.

Melker tied the technical case directly to a price zone: “So assuming we get the bear flag breakdown, that’s where we get the 40s and 50s target, probably 40s or lower, right?”

Why MSTR Is the Pressure Point MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR | MSTR Price Prediction), now branded as Strategy, is the corporate proxy for this trade. The company holds 713,502 bitcoins with a cost basis of approximately $54.26 billion. Q4 2025 already showed what a Bitcoin drawdown does to the income statement: a net loss of $12.44 billion, or -$42.93 per diluted share, driven by a $17.44 billion unrealized loss on digital assets under ASU 2023-08 fair value accounting (see the Q4 8-K filing).

The stock has felt it. MSTR sits at $159.89, down 60% over the past year from $399.46 and off 11% in the past month alone. Reddit sentiment flipped from bullish to bearish around May 10-11, 2026, with retail discussion concentrating in r/options around a thread titled “Someone smart convince me not to buy a STRC (strategy preferred stock) put.”

What the Crowd Is Pricing Polymarket traders assign a 79% probability that MicroStrategy sells some Bitcoin by December 31, 2026, and a 42% probability of a sale by June 30. Margin call risk for 2026 sits at just 4.5%, so the crowd sees discretionary selling pressure, not forced liquidation, as the real concern if the bear flag resolves lower. CEO Phong Le has framed the capital strategy as offensive, noting the company “raised $25.3 billion of capital in 2025 to advance our Bitcoin treasury strategy” and added 41,002 bitcoins in January 2026 alone.

The setup is straightforward. If the bear flag holds and Bitcoin rejects lower, the 2022 mirror image breaks. If it resolves to the downside, history says the second leg can be the deeper one, and MSTR is the cleanest equity expression of that risk. The duck test is on.

Circle Internet Group (NYSE:CRCL) announced a partnership with global payments platform Nium on Wednesday, connecting USDC settlement to payout infrastructure across 190 countries.

Single Integration Replaces Fragmented Cross-Border Payment RailsNium joins the Circle Payments Network as a global payout partner, giving financial institutions direct access to payouts across more than 100 local currencies through a single integration. 

Previously, institutions moving money across multiple corridors had to manage fragmented providers and prefund accounts in each market separately.

The partnership allows banks, fintechs, and enterprises to use USDC-powered settlement to route payments through the Circle Payments Network directly into Nium’s infrastructure, delivering local currency funds into accounts, wallets, and cards worldwide. 

The Circle Payments Network already manages $8.3 billion in annualized transaction volume based on trailing 30-day activity as of March 31.

“Traditional and on-chain payment rails are converging, and that convergence demands infrastructure that banks, fintechs, and global enterprises can rely on at scale,” said Nium founder and CEO Prajit Nanu. 

“We are combining Circle’s regulated settlement instrument with Nium’s global payout reach to deliver a more seamless way for institutions to move money worldwide,” he added.

USDC Moves From Settlement Instrument To Complete Payment FlowCircle Chief Commercial Officer Kash Razzaghi explained that financial institutions are increasingly turning to stablecoins to solve persistent cross-border payment problems.

Through the Nium integration, USDC effectively extends beyond settlement into a full end-to-end payment flow, giving institutions greater speed, transparency, and capital efficiency when moving money globally.

The timing matters because the CLARITY Act, currently advancing through the Senate with 70% odds of passing according to Galaxy Digital research, would create the regulatory framework for exactly this type of institutional stablecoin adoption at scale.

Cup And Handle Projects $200 Target If CRCL Clears $115CRCL has completed a textbook Cup and Handle pattern, with the cup bottoming at $50 and the rim forming at $135 to $140. 

The handle pulled back to $95 to $100 before breaking out, with the stock now trading at $104.36.

Price needs to clear the EMA cluster—50 EMA at $105.75, 20 EMA at $111, and 200 EMA at $115—to confirm full continuation. 

A measured cup move projects $200 to $220 on a clean breakout. Support holds at $100 on the handle retest and $95 at the handle low. Loss of $95 on volume collapses the pattern toward the $80 to $85 demand zone.

Image: Shutterstock

Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

© 2026 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.

Circle Internet Group, Inc. (CRCL) Presents at Bernstein 42nd Annual Strategic Decisions Conference Transcript

Circle remains a Strong Buy as it leads the stablecoin revolution and outperformed the benchmark with a 38% stock surge. USDC adoption is accelerating, with a 28% YoY increase in circulation and a 263% rise in on-chain transaction volume to $21.5 trillion. Recent partnerships, such as with Nium and Kyriba, expand CRCL's use cases and support the long-term bull thesis.

Circle Internet Group (CRCL +2.42%) wasn't any investor's idea of a good stock buy on Hump Day. Market players aggressively sold out of the stablecoin developer's shares, on the back of a report that several major financial companies are teaming up to develop a competing cryptocurrency. Circle's stock price fell by nearly 11% across that trading session.

New stablecoin coming? Before market open, crypto news and analysis site CoinDesk reported that Visa, Mastercard, and Stripe are on the brink of rolling out a new stablecoin platform. Citing three unnamed individuals "familiar with the plans," the site said a fourth company, crypto exchange operator Coinbase Global, is considering joining.

Image source: Getty Images.

All four companies have, to different extents, developed their own stablecoin capabilities. In fact, Coinbase and Circle co-founded the Centre Consortium as a governance body for Circle's USDC. This lasted until 2023, when the two companies agreed to a two-tier revenue split under which they share the coin's reserve interest income.

CoinDesk said that Visa, Stripe, and Coinbase refused to comment on its story. It had not received a response from Mastercard at the time of publication.

Today's Change

(

2.42

%) $

1.91

Current Price

$

80.84

It's hard to compete with an incumbent The CoinDesk story did not provide any details of this apparent upcoming stablecoin. However, if the article is accurate, such a product is sure to be large-scale and, therefore, competitive even with the most popular stablecoins like USDC or the No. 1 in that category, Tether. Yet I wouldn't sell out of Circle solely on this report, especially without knowing at least a few key details about the new coin, given the prominence and success of USDC so far.

Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Mastercard and Visa. The Motley Fool recommends Coinbase Global. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Circle Internet Group remains a Buy, driven by USDC's stable market cap above $70B and rising transaction volumes. USDC's adaptability and payments use case insulate CRCL from broader crypto volatility, with Arc chain and transaction fees offering new revenue streams. CRCL's market cap is $20B, with annualized net income of $220M, and potential for significant growth if USDC reaches $250B and CLARITY passes.

Bitcoin’s plunge below the key $60,000 level last week created winners in leveraged inverse ETFs betting against some of the crypto market’s most closely watched stocks.

The rally in bearish ETFs coincided with one of Bitcoin’s sharpest declines this year. The world’s largest cryptocurrency fell about 18% last week and briefly dropped to $59,101 on Friday, marking its first move below $60,000 since late 2024.

Strategy’s Weakness Boosts MSTZThe selloff reverberated across crypto-linked stocks, particularly Strategy Inc (NASDAQ:MSTR), the company widely viewed as a leveraged Bitcoin proxy.

Strategy came under pressure after disclosing a small Bitcoin sale, its first since 2022. The announcement raised concerns about the durability of the company’s long-standing buy-and-hold strategy and added to fears surrounding corporate Bitcoin treasury models.

Those concerns helped fuel gains in MSTZ, which seeks to deliver twice the inverse daily performance of Strategy shares.

The pressure on Strategy intensified as investors pulled money from Bitcoin ETFs and questioned whether corporate treasury buyers would continue supporting demand for the cryptocurrency during periods of heightened volatility.

Circle Decline Drives CRCD HigherCRCD posted even stronger returns as shares of Circle Internet Group Inc (NYSE:CRCL), the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, retreated amid the broader crypto downturn.

The ETF is designed to provide twice the inverse daily return of Circle stock, making it one of the most aggressive bearish vehicles available to investors seeking to profit from declines in crypto-linked equities.

Weakness across digital assets was fueled by a combination of ETF outflows, renewed geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and growing uncertainty surrounding the outlook for crypto-related companies.

Bitcoin Rebounds, But Sentiment Remains FragileBitcoin staged a partial rebound on Monday, climbing as much as 3.8% before trading near $62,800 after Strategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor disclosed a fresh $101 million Bitcoin acquisition, its first purchase since selling 32 coins at $77,135 last week, leading to a 6% surge in MSTR stock.

The recovery, however, is yet to fully restore investor confidence.

Market participants remain cautious after Bitcoin lost roughly half its value from the record highs reached last year. Richard Galvin, executive chairman of crypto investment firm DACM, said, according to a Bloomberg report, that the firm recently raised cash holdings to their highest level in two years, while Apollo Crypto portfolio manager Pratik Kala described market sentiment as “incredibly shaky.”

Investors Continue Betting on Further DownsideFor now, the biggest beneficiaries of that uncertainty have been bearish crypto-equity ETFs.

As Bitcoin struggles to regain momentum despite Monday’s rebound, funds such as CRCD and MSTZ have emerged among the standout performers in the ETF market, highlighting how quickly sentiment has shifted from chasing crypto gains to positioning for further downside in crypto-linked stocks.

Photo: Shutterstock

Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

© 2026 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.

-

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Circle Internet Group, Inc. (NYSE: CRCL) announced today that Jeremy Allaire, Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, will participate in a fireside chat at VivaTech on Wednesday, June 17, 2026, at 5:00 am ET, discussing “Digital Money, Real Power: The New Architecture of Finance.”

The live audio webcast of the session will be available on Circle’s Investor Relations website at www.circle.com/investors. For those unable to listen to the live webcast, a replay will be available on our website shortly after the event.

Please direct any questions regarding obtaining access to the webcast to Circle Investor Relations via email at [email protected].

Disclosure Information
In addition to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Circle uses its Investor Relations website (https://investor.circle.com), its blog (https://www.circle.com/blog), press releases (https://www.circle.com/pressroom), public conference calls and webcasts, its X feed (https://x.com/circle), and its Linkedin page (https://www.linkedin.com/company/circle-internet-financial) as a means of disclosing material nonpublic information, announcing upcoming investor conferences and for complying with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Accordingly, investors should monitor these sites in addition to following Circle’s SEC filings.

About Circle Internet Group, Inc.
Circle (NYSE: CRCL) is one of the world’s leading internet financial platform companies, building the foundation of a more open, global economy through programmable blockchain infrastructure, digital assets, and payment applications. Circle’s platform includes the world’s largest stablecoin network anchored by USDC, Circle Payments Network for global money movement, and Arc, an enterprise-grade blockchain designed to become the Economic OS for the internet. Enterprises, financial institutions, and developers use Circle to power trusted, internet-scale financial innovation.

More News From Circle Internet Group, Inc.

Back to Newsroom