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Compass Point Just Downgraded Circle (CRCL); So Why Is It Still Among the Best Ethereum Stocks to Buy?

Circle Internet Group, Inc. (NYSE:CRCL) is one of the best Ethereum stocks to buy now. On April 8, Compass Point analyst Ed Engel downgraded Circle Internet Group, Inc. (NYSE:CRCL) to Sell from Neutral and lowered his price target to $77 from $79. Engel cited growing concerns that Circle’s margin outlook is deteriorating despite strong USDC supply growth.

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According to Engel, just under 80% of USDC supply growth since early February has been driven by partner platforms such as Sky, Binance, and Ethena. These are channels that carry lower margins because Circle must share interest income from its USDC reserves with these distribution partners, the analyst noted. He added that Circle earns higher margins on USDC held outside these partnership networks. Put simply, the current growth trend is actually diluting profitability even as overall USDC adoption expands.

The analyst also touched on Circle’s earnings, where he noted that the company’s Q1 2026 results could underwhelm rising expectations. Engel also stated that his firm expects Circle’s gross margins to remain under pressure if current trends persist. The firm estimates EBITDA will fall 19% quarter-on-quarter in Q1 2026, and its full-year 2027 EBITDA forecast sits 20% below Wall Street consensus.

Part of what makes the stock vulnerable, in Engel’s view, is its high valuation. He noted that Circle currently trades at 40 times optimistic 2027 EBITDA forecasts that assume USDC will reaccelerate in Q2 2026. The analyst is not counting on this scenario.

Circle indicated it is solidifying its place in the Ethereum ecosystem when it launched cirBTC on April 2. cirBTC is a Bitcoin-backed token specifically designed for institutional decentralized finance, or DeFi, use. The product targets custody and trust concerns around existing wrapped Bitcoin solutions, and it is set to launch on Ethereum and Circle’s Arc blockchain first. The token offers real-time reserve verification on Ethereum, and positions Circle as a direct competitor to Coinbase, BitGo, and other Bitcoin token providers in the Ethereum DeFi space.

Circle Internet Group, Inc. (NYSE:CRCL) is a financial technology company focused on blockchain-based payments and digital currency infrastructure. The company issues USD Coin (USDC), a stablecoin that is widely circulated on the Ethereum blockchain, where it is used for trading, DeFi, and smart contract applications.

While we acknowledge the risk and potential of CRCL as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than CRCL and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 10 Best Defense Stocks That Will Skyrocket and Top 10 Utility Stocks to Buy Now.

Disclosure: None. Follow Insider Monkey on Google News.

The $250 Trillion AI Hype is Real. A few years from now, you’ll probably wish you’d bought this stock.

Dr. Inan Dogan

Dr. Ian Dogan

Co-Founder and Research Director at Insider Monkey

When Jeff Bezos said that one breakthrough technology would shape Amazon’s destiny, even Wall Street’s biggest analysts were caught off guard.

Fast forward a year and Amazon’s new CEO Andy Jassy described generative AI as a “once-in-a-lifetime” technology that is already being used across Amazon to reinvent customer experiences.

At the 8th Future Investment Initiative conference, Elon Musk predicted that by 2040 there would be at least 10 billion humanoid robots, with each priced between $20,000 and $25,000.

Do the math. According to Musk, this technology could be worth $250 trillion by 2040.

Put another way, that’s roughly equal to:

  • 175 Teslas
  • 107 Amazons
  • 140 Metas
  • 84 Googles
  • 65 Microsofts
  • And 55 Nvidias

And here’s the wild part — this $250 trillion wave isn’t tied to one company, but to an entire ecosystem of AI innovators set to reshape the global economy.

It’s a leap so massive, it could reshape how businesses, governments, and consumers operate worldwide.

Even if that $250 trillion figure sounds ambitious, major firms like PwC and McKinsey still see AI unlocking multi-trillion-dollar potential.

How could anything be worth that much?

The answer lies in a breakthrough so powerful it’s redefining how humanity works, learns, and creates.

And this breakthrough has already set off a frenzy among hedge funds and Wall Street’s top investors.

What most investors don’t realize is that one under-owned company holds the key to this $250 trillion revolution.

In fact, Verge argues this company’s supercheap AI technology should concern rivals.

Before I reveal the details, let’s talk about how some of the richest people on the planet are positioning themselves.

  • Bill Gates sees artificial intelligence as the “biggest technological advance in my lifetime,” more transformative than the internet or personal computer, capable of improving healthcare, education, and addressing climate change.
  • Larry Ellison — through Oracle, is spending billions on Nvidia chips and partnering with Cohere to embed generative AI across Oracle’s cloud and apps.
  • Warren Buffett — not known for tech hype — says this breakthrough could have a ‘hugely beneficial social impact.

When billionaires from Silicon Valley to Wall Street line up behind the same idea — you know it’s worth paying attention to.

Even as we admire what Tesla, Nvidia, Alphabet, and Microsoft have built, we believe an even greater opportunity lies elsewhere…

But the real story isn’t Nvidia — it’s a much smaller company quietly improving the critical technology that makes this entire revolution possible.

And judging by what I’m hearing from both Silicon Valley insiders and Wall Street veterans…

This prediction might not be bold at all:

A few years from now, you’ll wish you’d owned this stock.

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Wall Street calls this $3 stock a “Melting Ice Cube.” They said the same thing about BTI before it returned 90%.

Dr. Inan Dogan

Dr. Ian Dogan

Co-Founder and Research Director at Insider Monkey

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We alerted our subscribers, and BTI returned 90% in just 16 months.

Now if you had invested just $10,000 in BTI in June 2024, you’d be sitting on $19,000 in October 2025.

Today, we have identified a nearly identical pattern in a digital-first giant trading at $3.

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This pattern is a hallmark of our 16.5% annual return track record. The current opportunity offers a 400% upside potential—dwarfing even our 90% BTI return.

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