CRCL, COIN Stocks Dip After Report Suggests Coinbase Is Mulling Entry Into New Stablecoin Platform Backed By Stripe, Visa, Mastercard

• According to a report by CoinDesk, Coinbase is currently evaluating whether or not it would like to participate in a new stablecoin platform being launched by Stripe, Mastercard, and Visa.
• COIN and CRCL shares dropped at market open as the cryptocurrency market selloff weighed on crypto-linked equities, but CRCL’s stock took a bigger hit.
• During Coinbase’s Q1 earnings call, CEO Brian Armstrong said that the revenue sharing agreement with Circle is likely to stay in place when the renewal comes around in August.

Shares of Circle Internet Group (CRCL) and Coinbase Global (COIN) took a hit on Tuesday morning after a CoinDesk report suggested that the Brian Armstrong-led cryptocurrency exchange is evaluating whether or not to participate in the launch of the new stablecoin platform backed by Stripe, Visa (V), and Mastercard (MA).

CRCL’s stock dropped as much as 4% at market open, while COIN’s stock was down 1.4% amid weakness in the cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin (BTC) was struggling to hold above $67,000 after a $1.8 billion liquidation wave, following an intraday low of around $65,000. Bitcoin’s price was trading at around $66,800 at the time of writing, down 2.8% in the last 24 hours. 

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around both Circle and Coinbase trended in ‘bearish’ territory over the past day, with chatter around Circle jumping 40% over the last 24 hours. In the past month, both have seen message volumes increase by over 150% amid the anticipation of the CLARITY Act and chatter around stablecoin adoption. 

Why It Matters For Circle

Reserve income, which is earnings generated on assets backing its stablecoin (USDC), drove $2.64 billion of Circle's 2025 revenue. That makes the company's top line sensitive to both the size of USDC in circulation and the competitive landscape for dollar-denominated stablecoins. 

A platform backed by Stripe, Visa, and Mastercard could introduce new stablecoin infrastructure that operates independently of USDC or routes volume away from it. Visa and Mastercard's stock also saw weakness in morning trade, both falling more than 2%. However, the retail sentiment on Stocktwits diverged. Sentiment around Visa trended in 'bearish' territory over the past day, while sentiment around Mastercard improved to 'extremely bullish' from 'bullish' territory.

The more immediate pressure point is the revenue-sharing agreement between Coinbase and Circle that’s been in place since 2023, and is up for renewal in August. Under the current terms, Coinbase keeps 100% of interest income on USDC held on the exchange and splits revenue 50/50 on USDC circulating elsewhere. 

"The contracts that we have in place with Circle are set," Armstrong said at the company's Q1 earnings call last month. "We expect to continue to go forward with our relationship with Circle under those same terms." If Coinbase joins the new platform, it would gain a parallel stablecoin infrastructure that would give it leverage heading into August's renewal talks with Circle.

Read also: Bitcoin Dumps Below $65K, Spurring $1.8B Wipeout Before Recovery – Analysts Debate The Cause, While Retail Blames Saylor

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