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CRCL vs. IREN: Which Crypto-Exposure Stock Has an Edge Now?
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Key Takeaways
{\"0\":\"Circle\'s USDC in circulation rose to $72.36B as of Sept. 11.\",\"1\":\"IREN targets $1.25B annualized revenue, driven by bitcoin mining and fast-growing AI cloud business.\\r\\n\",\"2\":\"IREN shares soared 83.8% in a month, far outpacing Circle\'s 1.9% gain.\\r\\n\"}
Circle Internet (CRCL - Free Report) and IREN Limited (IREN - Free Report) are a couple of cryptocurrency-exposed stocks that have been gaining traction in recent times. 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. IREN Limited is one of the world’s largest and lowest-cost bitcoin miners.
Cryptocurrencies have been benefiting from the liberal policies of U.S. President Donald Trump. 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. Stablecoins benefit from the passage of the GENIUS Act on July 18, paving the way for more enterprise adoption. So, IREN 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. As of Sept. 11, $72.36 billion USDCs were in circulation, rising from $65.2 billion as of Aug. 10, 2025, and $61.3 billion at the end of the second quarter of 2025. In the second quarter of 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, OKX, Finastra and Fireblocks is noteworthy. Circle recently inked a partnership with Fireblocks, under which the former’s stablecoin network will complement Fireblocks’ custody and payments infrastructure tools to provide cross-border treasury and tokenization asset settlement. The partnership with Finastra now enables banks to integrate USDC settlement into cross-border payment flows. FIS and Circle are enabling U.S. financial institutions to offer their customers the option to make domestic and cross-border stablecoin payments using USDC.
These factors are expected to drive Circle’s top-line growth. In the second quarter of 2025, Circle reported total revenues and reserve income of $658.1 million, up 53% year over year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter 2025 revenues is pegged at $686.4 million and $2.63 billion for 2025.
The Case for IREN Stock
IREN is on track to achieve $1.25 billion in annualized revenues, with roughly $1 billion coming from bitcoin mining, and $200-$250 million from AI Cloud (by December 2025). IREN expects to scale from 1.9k to 10.9k GPUs in the coming months. This includes 1.9k air-cooled H100 and H200s; 7.8k air-cooled B200 and B300s; and 1.2k liquid-cooled GB300s.
IREN has been on track to install more than 60k NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs at British Columbia sites and recognizes the potential of 19k GB300s at Horizon 1. IREN continues its transition in British Columbia (160 MW) from bitcoin mining to AI, including a new liquid-cooled data center for GB300 NVL72 installations at Prince George. IREN’s AI cloud business is expanding rapidly, with more than 10,000 GPUs online or set to be commissioned in the coming months. The upcoming GPUs include next-generation liquid-cooled GB300 NVL72 systems from NVIDIA (NVDA - Free Report) at the Prince George campus. Meanwhile, IREN has achieved NVIDIA Preferred Partner status.
IREN currently operates 810MW of data centers. Contracted grid-connected power increased to 2,910 MW, indicating more than 35% growth. The company has commenced construction of Horizon 1, its first direct-to-chip liquid cooling AI data center and Sweetwater, its 2-gigawatt data center hub in West Texas.
These factors are expected to drive top-line growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter fiscal 2026 revenues is pegged at $236.7 million and $1.13 billion for fiscal 2026, which implies 335.21% and 120.93% year-over-year, respectively.
Earnings Estimate Revisions: IREN’s Fall, CRCL’s Loss Widens
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for IREN’s fiscal 2026 earnings is pegged at $1.08 per share, down 6.1% over the past 30 days. The company reported earnings of 4 cents per share in fiscal 2025.
In the past month, IREN Limited shares have jumped 83.8%, outperforming Circle, shares of which have climbed 1.9%.
Price Performance: IREN vs. CRCL
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
IREN and Circle are overvalued, as suggested by the Value Score of F.
Conclusion
Although an improving regulatory environment and growing demand for stablecoins like USDC bode well for Circle’s prospects, IREN’s accelerating AI Cloud revenues and low-cost bitcoin mining offer the stock an edge right now. Circle and IREN Limited carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) each at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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CRCL vs. IREN: Which Crypto-Exposure Stock Has an Edge Now?
Key Takeaways
Circle Internet (CRCL - Free Report) and IREN Limited (IREN - Free Report) are a couple of cryptocurrency-exposed stocks that have been gaining traction in recent times. 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. IREN Limited is one of the world’s largest and lowest-cost bitcoin miners.
Cryptocurrencies have been benefiting from the liberal policies of U.S. President Donald Trump. 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. Stablecoins benefit from the passage of the GENIUS Act on July 18, paving the way for more enterprise adoption. So, IREN 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. As of Sept. 11, $72.36 billion USDCs were in circulation, rising from $65.2 billion as of Aug. 10, 2025, and $61.3 billion at the end of the second quarter of 2025. In the second quarter of 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, OKX, Finastra and Fireblocks is noteworthy. Circle recently inked a partnership with Fireblocks, under which the former’s stablecoin network will complement Fireblocks’ custody and payments infrastructure tools to provide cross-border treasury and tokenization asset settlement. The partnership with Finastra now enables banks to integrate USDC settlement into cross-border payment flows. FIS and Circle are enabling U.S. financial institutions to offer their customers the option to make domestic and cross-border stablecoin payments using USDC.
These factors are expected to drive Circle’s top-line growth. In the second quarter of 2025, Circle reported total revenues and reserve income of $658.1 million, up 53% year over year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter 2025 revenues is pegged at $686.4 million and $2.63 billion for 2025.
The Case for IREN Stock
IREN is on track to achieve $1.25 billion in annualized revenues, with roughly $1 billion coming from bitcoin mining, and $200-$250 million from AI Cloud (by December 2025). IREN expects to scale from 1.9k to 10.9k GPUs in the coming months. This includes 1.9k air-cooled H100 and H200s; 7.8k air-cooled B200 and B300s; and 1.2k liquid-cooled GB300s.
IREN has been on track to install more than 60k NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs at British Columbia sites and recognizes the potential of 19k GB300s at Horizon 1. IREN continues its transition in British Columbia (160 MW) from bitcoin mining to AI, including a new liquid-cooled data center for GB300 NVL72 installations at Prince George. IREN’s AI cloud business is expanding rapidly, with more than 10,000 GPUs online or set to be commissioned in the coming months. The upcoming GPUs include next-generation liquid-cooled GB300 NVL72 systems from NVIDIA (NVDA - Free Report) at the Prince George campus. Meanwhile, IREN has achieved NVIDIA Preferred Partner status.
IREN currently operates 810MW of data centers. Contracted grid-connected power increased to 2,910 MW, indicating more than 35% growth. The company has commenced construction of Horizon 1, its first direct-to-chip liquid cooling AI data center and Sweetwater, its 2-gigawatt data center hub in West Texas.
These factors are expected to drive top-line growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter fiscal 2026 revenues is pegged at $236.7 million and $1.13 billion for fiscal 2026, which implies 335.21% and 120.93% year-over-year, respectively.
Earnings Estimate Revisions: IREN’s Fall, CRCL’s Loss Widens
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for IREN’s fiscal 2026 earnings is pegged at $1.08 per share, down 6.1% over the past 30 days. The company reported earnings of 4 cents per share in fiscal 2025.
IREN Limited Price and Consensus
IREN Limited price-consensus-chart | IREN Limited Quote
The consensus mark for Circle’s 2025 loss is pegged at $2.53 per share, much wider than 33 cents over the past 30 days.
Circle Internet Group, Inc. Price and Consensus
Circle Internet Group, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Circle Internet Group, Inc. Quote
Stock Performance and Valuation: IREN vs. CRCL
In the past month, IREN Limited shares have jumped 83.8%, outperforming Circle, shares of which have climbed 1.9%.
Price Performance: IREN vs. CRCL
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
IREN and Circle are overvalued, as suggested by the Value Score of F.
Conclusion
Although an improving regulatory environment and growing demand for stablecoins like USDC bode well for Circle’s prospects, IREN’s accelerating AI Cloud revenues and low-cost bitcoin mining offer the stock an edge right now. Circle and IREN Limited carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) each at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.