Crypto prices and U.S. stocks rose on Thursday on easing concerns in the Middle East, but Circle ( CRCL ), Bullish ( BLSH ) and Coinbase ( COIN ) all posted significant declines.
Circle fell 9.9% to $85.10 after Compass Point downgraded the stock to Sell from Neutral and lowered its price target by $2 to $77. The brokerage said the USDC has held up better than in previous bearish cycles, but argued that supply growth is moving into lower-margin areas. It also said Circle now trades at 40 times what it called optimistic 2027 adjusted EBITDA estimates, and warned that consensus forecasts for 2026 and 2027 may have to decline as gross margins in the first half of 2026 contract.
The firm said more USDC are now sitting on platforms like Sky, Binance and Athena, where revenue-sharing agreements reduce Circle’s finances. In bear markets it can matter. A stablecoin can keep its supply, but the profit pool can shrink if more of that supply is in lower return channels.
Bullish also faced sell-side pressure, falling 6.5% to $36.12 after Rosenblatt downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy while maintaining his $39 price target. Rosenblatt said Bullish now trades at 28 times consensus adjusted EBITDA, a premium to peers including Coinbase and Robinhood ( HOOD ), adding that estimates are becoming more vulnerable as crypto activity weakens and IPO-related increases to non-trading revenue fade.
Bitcoin meanwhile, climbed above the $72,000 mark and traded at its highest level in more than three weeks. The move appeared to be linked to what markets read as positive news surrounding the conflict between the US and Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that he had instructed his cabinet to begin direct negotiations with Lebanon.
The development drew attention because senior US officials said envoy Steve Witkoff had asked Netanyahu to scale back strikes in Lebanon and open negotiations. It also marked a shift from President Donald Trump’s previous stance, after he gave Netanyahu room to continue the war in Lebanon shortly before announcing a cease-fire with Iran on Tuesday.
The Nasdaq rose 0.8% and the S&P 500 rose 0.6%.
