Circle and MicroStrategy Spark Crypto Stock Frenzy

On May 19, 2025, Coinbase Global (ticker symbol: COIN) was officially included in the S&P 500 Index, signaling that crypto stocks are gradually entering the mainstream vision. Subsequently, the stablecoin issuance giant Circle Internet Group (ticker symbol: CRCL) went public on the New York Stock Exchange on June 5, 2025. With an IPO price of $31, its stock price had soared by over 600% by June 19, ushering in a "season of altcoins" in the US stock market.

Crypto Stocks as a Special “Crypto Hotspot”

Crypto enterprise stocks are becoming a unique "crypto hotspot": traditional market investors are starting to pay attention to companies in the crypto industry, while those in the crypto community are viewing the price changes of crypto stocks as one of the indicators of market fluctuations. This article will review the recent targets of speculation in US crypto concept stocks.

Note: This article was written on June 19. Due to the escalation of the Middle East war situation, there may be some differences between the current stock prices and those mentioned in the article.

Circle and Stablecoin Concept

Circle Internet Group (NYSE: CRCL)

• IPO Date: June 2025

• Market Value: Approximately $42 billion

On June 5, 2025, Circle Internet Group, known as the "first stablecoin stock," officially landed on the New York Stock Exchange, becoming the first major crypto company to successfully go public via IPO since Coinbase. The IPO was priced at $31, and the stock doubled on its first day. By June 19, the stock price had skyrocketed to $199.81, setting a new record for the cumulative performance of a US IPO over three days since 2020.

Circle was founded in 2013 and initially entered the market with the P2P payment application Circle Pay. It once ventured into exchange business (such as Poloniex) but did not achieve a breakthrough. In 2018, Circle began to transform towards the stablecoin track, cooperating with Coinbase to focus on the issuance and management of USDC. Currently, USDC is widely used on multiple platforms, including Binance and Uniswap, and has become one of the most active stablecoins in DeFi and cross-border payments.

With the implementation of the US GENIUS Act and the Hong Kong stablecoin regulatory regulations, the surge in CRCL not only reflects the market's recognition of its fundamentals and revenue model but also represents a concentrated bet on the future value of the stablecoin track. Stablecoins are gradually evolving from marginal tools to core infrastructure, and large Wall Street financial institutions are frequently signaling their intentions to issue stablecoins. The scarcity of Circle and policy dividends have jointly driven its valuation to soar.

In addition, Circle continues to expand landing scenarios in multiple directions, including global cross-border clearing, on-chain settlement, and government cooperation. An increasing number of enterprises are adopting USDC as an alternative to SWIFT for real-time stable payments, attempting to build a more efficient and transparent capital flow network with blockchain technology. In the future, the performance of CRCL will not only be a valuation judgment of a tech company by investors but also a pricing of the possibility of a new global payment system.

Coinbase Global

Coinbase Global (NASDAQ: COIN)

• IPO Date: April 14, 2021

• Market Value: Approximately $75 billion

Founded in 2012, Coinbase serves over 120 million users across more than 100 countries. The platform supports the trading of various crypto assets and offers both retail and institutional services, including Coinbase Custody and Prime, managing assets exceeding $200 billion. Coinbase holds licenses in multiple US states and continues to deepen its involvement in the crypto space, including public chains, infrastructure, and payments.

Recently, the Coinbase ecosystem has seen several significant updates: its Layer2 network Base has performed remarkably, with DeFi TVL surpassing $5 billion, and it has announced the integration of DEX on Base into the main application, injecting liquidity into on-chain assets. Additionally, in collaboration with Shopify, it has launched USDC checkout functionality, promoting the commercial payment adoption of stablecoins. On the consumer end, it has also launched the first crypto credit card in partnership with American Express, named the Coinbase One Card. Moreover, Coinbase has introduced CFTC-compliant perpetual contracts in the US and acquired the options exchange Deribit, accelerating its layout in the derivatives market.

Behind the surge of CRCL, the market seems to have overlooked that Coinbase is the biggest winner in this feast. USDC was jointly launched by Circle and Coinbase in 2018 through the Centre Consortium, and after the consortium was dissolved in 2023, Coinbase acquired equity in Circle in August of the same year. According to Circle's IPO documents, Coinbase receives half of the residual income from Circle's USDC reserves, effectively "earning" 50%.

“Bitcoin Reserve” Concept

MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ: MSTR)

• IPO Date: June 1998

• Market Value: Approximately $103 billion

Before venturing into the crypto space, MicroStrategy's core business was providing a business intelligence software platform to help companies with data analysis, report creation, and information dissemination, with mediocre performance. What truly brought MicroStrategy into the mainstream spotlight was its Bitcoin strategic reserve strategy.

Since August 2020, CEO Michael Saylor has taken the lead in adopting Bitcoin as the main reserve asset on the company's balance sheet, continuously increasing its BTC holdings through the issuance of convertible bonds and other means. By mid-2025, the company's total Bitcoin holdings had exceeded 500,000, accounting for nearly 3% of the global Bitcoin circulation, and it has pledged "not to sell a single Bitcoin".

This strategy has made MicroStrategy a "quasi-ETF" target for Bitcoin concepts in the US stock market. For many institutional investors, MSTR provides a channel to "indirectly hold Bitcoin through traditional financial markets". Benefiting from the continuous rise in Bitcoin prices, MSTR's stock price has soared from $12 in 2020 to over $360, with an increase of more than 30 times. The correlation between its market value and Bitcoin prices ranges from 0.7 to 0.9, showing a very strong positive correlation.

GameStop Corp.

GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME)

• IPO Date: June 2002

• Market Value: Approximately $10.5 billion

GameStop is a multi-channel electronic game and consumer electronics retailer headquartered in the US, with operations in the US, Canada, Europe, and Australia. The company sells new and used game consoles, physical and digital game software, and various accessories through its GameStop, EB Games, and Micromania brand stores, as well as international e-commerce platforms. Hardware and peripheral devices are its main sources of revenue.

In February 2025, CEO Ryan Cohen met with MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor, an event seen by the market as a significant signal of GameStop's intention to follow MicroStrategy's "coin hoarding" model. In March, the company announced plans to hold Bitcoin as a reserve asset, and its stock price surged by 12% that month. The February rumors also contributed to an 18% increase in GME's stock price.

At the end of May, the company confirmed that it had purchased approximately 4,710 bitcoins (worth about $513 million), marking its first inclusion of Bitcoin on its balance sheet and officially joining the "MicroStrategy model". This move made it the 13th largest Bitcoin holding company globally. On June 11, the company announced a $1.75 billion note issuance plan for Bitcoin's strategic reserve. After the announcement, GME's stock price fell by over 11% in after-hours trading on June 11 and plummeted by over 23% on June 12. This was partly due to a 17% decrease in first-quarter revenue to $732.4 million, and also reflected investors' concerns about potential share dilution and Bitcoin investment strategy. Recently, GME completed a $2.25 billion convertible senior note issuance to strengthen its Bitcoin strategy. On June 17, GME's stock closed at $22.99, down about 1.4% on the day.

Trump Media & Technology Group Corp

Trump Media & Technology Group Corp (NASDAQ: DJT)

• IPO Date: September 2021

• Market Value: Approximately $5.1 billion

Trump Media & Technology Group is a comprehensive technology company focusing on social media, digital streaming, and technology infrastructure. Its flagship product, Truth Social, aims to create a public opinion space that encourages freedom of speech and decentralized censorship, and it is also an important Trump concept stock.

Circle and MicroStrategy Spark Crypto Stock Frenzy

On May 19, 2025, Coinbase Global (ticker symbol: COIN) was officially included in the S&P 500 Index, signaling that crypto stocks are gradually entering the mainstream vision. Subsequently, the stablecoin issuance giant Circle Internet Group (ticker symbol: CRCL) went public on the New York Stock Exchange on June 5, 2025. With an IPO price of $31, its stock price had soared by over 600% by June 19, ushering in a "season of altcoins" in the US stock market.

Crypto Stocks as a Special “Crypto Hotspot”

Crypto enterprise stocks are becoming a unique "crypto hotspot": traditional market investors are starting to pay attention to companies in the crypto industry, while those in the crypto community are viewing the price changes of crypto stocks as one of the indicators of market fluctuations. This article will review the recent targets of speculation in US crypto concept stocks.

Note: This article was written on June 19. Due to the escalation of the Middle East war situation, there may be some differences between the current stock prices and those mentioned in the article.

Circle and Stablecoin Concept

Circle Internet Group (NYSE: CRCL)

• IPO Date: June 2025

• Market Value: Approximately $42 billion

On June 5, 2025, Circle Internet Group, known as the "first stablecoin stock," officially landed on the New York Stock Exchange, becoming the first major crypto company to successfully go public via IPO since Coinbase. The IPO was priced at $31, and the stock doubled on its first day. By June 19, the stock price had skyrocketed to $199.81, setting a new record for the cumulative performance of a US IPO over three days since 2020.

Circle was founded in 2013 and initially entered the market with the P2P payment application Circle Pay. It once ventured into exchange business (such as Poloniex) but did not achieve a breakthrough. In 2018, Circle began to transform towards the stablecoin track, cooperating with Coinbase to focus on the issuance and management of USDC. Currently, USDC is widely used on multiple platforms, including Binance and Uniswap, and has become one of the most active stablecoins in DeFi and cross-border payments.

With the implementation of the US GENIUS Act and the Hong Kong stablecoin regulatory regulations, the surge in CRCL not only reflects the market's recognition of its fundamentals and revenue model but also represents a concentrated bet on the future value of the stablecoin track. Stablecoins are gradually evolving from marginal tools to core infrastructure, and large Wall Street financial institutions are frequently signaling their intentions to issue stablecoins. The scarcity of Circle and policy dividends have jointly driven its valuation to soar.

In addition, Circle continues to expand landing scenarios in multiple directions, including global cross-border clearing, on-chain settlement, and government cooperation. An increasing number of enterprises are adopting USDC as an alternative to SWIFT for real-time stable payments, attempting to build a more efficient and transparent capital flow network with blockchain technology. In the future, the performance of CRCL will not only be a valuation judgment of a tech company by investors but also a pricing of the possibility of a new global payment system.

Coinbase Global

Coinbase Global (NASDAQ: COIN)

• IPO Date: April 14, 2021

• Market Value: Approximately $75 billion

Founded in 2012, Coinbase serves over 120 million users across more than 100 countries. The platform supports the trading of various crypto assets and offers both retail and institutional services, including Coinbase Custody and Prime, managing assets exceeding $200 billion. Coinbase holds licenses in multiple US states and continues to deepen its involvement in the crypto space, including public chains, infrastructure, and payments.

Recently, the Coinbase ecosystem has seen several significant updates: its Layer2 network Base has performed remarkably, with DeFi TVL surpassing $5 billion, and it has announced the integration of DEX on Base into the main application, injecting liquidity into on-chain assets. Additionally, in collaboration with Shopify, it has launched USDC checkout functionality, promoting the commercial payment adoption of stablecoins. On the consumer end, it has also launched the first crypto credit card in partnership with American Express, named the Coinbase One Card. Moreover, Coinbase has introduced CFTC-compliant perpetual contracts in the US and acquired the options exchange Deribit, accelerating its layout in the derivatives market.

Behind the surge of CRCL, the market seems to have overlooked that Coinbase is the biggest winner in this feast. USDC was jointly launched by Circle and Coinbase in 2018 through the Centre Consortium, and after the consortium was dissolved in 2023, Coinbase acquired equity in Circle in August of the same year. According to Circle's IPO documents, Coinbase receives half of the residual income from Circle's USDC reserves, effectively "earning" 50%.

“Bitcoin Reserve” Concept

MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ: MSTR)

• IPO Date: June 1998

• Market Value: Approximately $103 billion

Before venturing into the crypto space, MicroStrategy's core business was providing a business intelligence software platform to help companies with data analysis, report creation, and information dissemination, with mediocre performance. What truly brought MicroStrategy into the mainstream spotlight was its Bitcoin strategic reserve strategy.

Since August 2020, CEO Michael Saylor has taken the lead in adopting Bitcoin as the main reserve asset on the company's balance sheet, continuously increasing its BTC holdings through the issuance of convertible bonds and other means. By mid-2025, the company's total Bitcoin holdings had exceeded 500,000, accounting for nearly 3% of the global Bitcoin circulation, and it has pledged "not to sell a single Bitcoin".

This strategy has made MicroStrategy a "quasi-ETF" target for Bitcoin concepts in the US stock market. For many institutional investors, MSTR provides a channel to "indirectly hold Bitcoin through traditional financial markets". Benefiting from the continuous rise in Bitcoin prices, MSTR's stock price has soared from $12 in 2020 to over $360, with an increase of more than 30 times. The correlation between its market value and Bitcoin prices ranges from 0.7 to 0.9, showing a very strong positive correlation.

GameStop Corp.

GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME)

• IPO Date: June 2002

• Market Value: Approximately $10.5 billion

GameStop is a multi-channel electronic game and consumer electronics retailer headquartered in the US, with operations in the US, Canada, Europe, and Australia. The company sells new and used game consoles, physical and digital game software, and various accessories through its GameStop, EB Games, and Micromania brand stores, as well as international e-commerce platforms. Hardware and peripheral devices are its main sources of revenue.

In February 2025, CEO Ryan Cohen met with MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor, an event seen by the market as a significant signal of GameStop's intention to follow MicroStrategy's "coin hoarding" model. In March, the company announced plans to hold Bitcoin as a reserve asset, and its stock price surged by 12% that month. The February rumors also contributed to an 18% increase in GME's stock price.

At the end of May, the company confirmed that it had purchased approximately 4,710 bitcoins (worth about $513 million), marking its first inclusion of Bitcoin on its balance sheet and officially joining the "MicroStrategy model". This move made it the 13th largest Bitcoin holding company globally. On June 11, the company announced a $1.75 billion note issuance plan for Bitcoin's strategic reserve. After the announcement, GME's stock price fell by over 11% in after-hours trading on June 11 and plummeted by over 23% on June 12. This was partly due to a 17% decrease in first-quarter revenue to $732.4 million, and also reflected investors' concerns about potential share dilution and Bitcoin investment strategy. Recently, GME completed a $2.25 billion convertible senior note issuance to strengthen its Bitcoin strategy. On June 17, GME's stock closed at $22.99, down about 1.4% on the day.

Trump Media & Technology Group Corp

Trump Media & Technology Group Corp (NASDAQ: DJT)

• IPO Date: September 2021

• Market Value: Approximately $5.1 billion

Trump Media & Technology Group is a comprehensive technology company focusing on social media, digital streaming, and technology infrastructure. Its flagship product, Truth Social, aims to create a public opinion space that encourages freedom of speech and decentralized censorship, and it is also an important Trump concept stock.