CRCL vs. MSTR: Which Crypto-Exposure Stock Has an Edge Now?

Circle Internet CRCL and Strategy MSTR are two well-known cryptocurrency-exposed stocks. While Strategy is the world’s largest bitcoin treasury company, holding 628,791 bitcoins as of July 29, 2025, Circle offers USDC stablecoin, which is redeemable on a one-for-one basis for U.S. dollars and is backed by reserves consisting of highly liquid, price-stable cash and cash equivalents.

Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, has been soaring due to increasing acceptance as a non-sovereign asset, as well as higher institutional and corporate adoption. The liberal policies of U.S. President Donald Trump have been a key catalyst in driving the adoption of bitcoin. Stablecoins benefit from the passage of the GENIUS Act on July 18, paving the way for more enterprise adoption.

So, Strategy or Circle, which has an edge right now?

The Case for CRCL Stock

Circle is expected to benefit from the growing demand for the USDC stablecoin. At the end of the second quarter of 2025, USDC in circulation grew 90% year over year to $61.3 billion and has grown an additional 6.4% to $65.2 billion as of Aug. 10, 2025. USDC onchain transaction volume grew 5.4 times year over year to nearly $6 trillion, reflecting growing usage. Meaningful wallets, defined as wallets holding more than $10 of USDC, surged 68% year over year, further indicating growing USDC adoption globally.

The launch of Circle Payments Network in May, a platform for financial institutions to use stablecoins for payments, with more than 100 institutions in the pipeline, is noteworthy. Currently, Hong Kong, Brazil, Nigeria and Mexico are the active payment corridors. Circle Gateway, introduced in July, enables seamless cross-chain USDC usage and is currently supported by eight new blockchain partners. Circle Internet also introduced Arc, an open Layer-1 blockchain purpose-built for stablecoin finance and compatible with Ethereum infrastructure.

An expanding partner base that includes the likes of Binance, Corpay, FIS, Fiserv and OKX is noteworthy. Circle now offers a yield token, USYC, which can be used in both digital assets and traditional capital markets as collateral with anytime liquidity between USYC and USDC. The company’s expanded partnership with Binance now makes USYC available as collateral, thereby accelerating adoption.

However, Circle’s investments in building platform, capabilities and partnerships are expected to hike operating expenses, currently expected between $475 million and $490 million for 2025, implying a 20-24% growth rate. This is expected to keep margins under pressure in the near term.

The Case for MSTR Stock

Strategy benefits from increasing bitcoin yield, which hit 19.7% at the end of the second quarter of 2025 and 25% year to date. In dollar terms, bitcoin gain was $9.5 billion at the end of the second quarter and $13.2 billion year to date. Strategy now expects to achieve a bitcoin yield of 30% and $20 billion in gains, assuming the bitcoin price hits $150,000 at the end of the year.

The company’s disciplined approach to capital raising through preferred equity offerings — Strike (STRK), Strife (STRF), STRD (Stride) and STRC (Stretch) — is a key catalyst. Strategy has issued $10.7 billion in equities and $7.6 billion in fixed income securities year to date. Among fixed income securities, the company raised $2 billion, $0.94 billion, $2.52 billion, $1.13 billion and $1.02 billion through convertible notes, STRF, STRC, STRK and STRD, respectively.

Strategy has issued $10.7 billion in equities and $7.6 billion in fixed income securities year to date. Among fixed income securities, the company raised $2 billion, $0.94 billion, $2.52 billion, $1.13 billion and $1.02 billion through convertible notes, STRF, STRC, STRK and STRD, respectively.

MSTR is benefiting from rising subscription revenues. In the second quarter of 2025, product licenses and subscription services revenues jumped 44% year over year to $48 million and accounted for 41.9% of revenues, which was 100% software.

Earnings Estimate Revisions Steady for Both MSTR and CRCL

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MSTR’s 2025 loss is pegged at $15.73 per share, unchanged over the past 60 days. The company reported a loss of $6.72 per share in 2024.
 

Strategy Inc Price and Consensus

Strategy Inc price-consensus-chart | Strategy Inc Quote

The consensus mark for Circl’s 2025 earnings is pegged at $1.10 per share, unchanged over the past 30 days.

Stock Performance and Valuation: MSTR vs. CRCL

In the past month, Strategy shares have declined 13% outperforming Circle, shares of which dropped 30.3%.

Price Performance: MSTR vs. CRCL

Strategy and Circle are overvalued, as suggested by the Value Score of F.

Conclusion

Strategy benefits from its policy to hold bitcoin on its balance sheet. However, bitcoin’s inherent volatility is a headwind for MSTR investors. Meanwhile, an improving regulatory environment and growing demand for stablecoins like USDC bode well for Circle’s long-term prospects.

Circle, a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company, has an edge over Strategy, which currently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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