The crypto-linked equities are having another rough session midday Wednesday, and the year-to-date scoreboard tells a clear story about which treasury strategy has held up best. Bitmine Immersion Technologies (NYSE:BMNR | BMNR Price Prediction) is down 46% year to date (YTD) and down slightly today at $14.73, extending a brutal stretch for the Ethereum (CRYPTO:ETH) treasury proxy.
The Ethereum-treasury proxy is lagging both of its higher-profile peers. Strategy (NASDAQ:MSTR), the Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) treasury pioneer formerly known as MicroStrategy, is down 38% YTD and off 3% today to $94.87. Circle Internet Group (NYSE:CRCL), the USDC (CRYPTO:USDC) stablecoin issuer, is down 20% YTD and off 1% today to $64.22.
With Bitcoin down 29% YTD and Ethereum down 41% YTD, the question for shareholders of Bitmine Immersion Technologies is whether to rotate.
Why Bitmine Immersion Technologies Stock Keeps Sliding
Bitmine Immersion Technologies runs an Ethereum treasury strategy, and the pain reflects Ethereum’s steeper drawdown versus BTC. The company holds more than 3.73 million ETH, so the 40% ETH decline has hit net asset value hard.
Bitmine Immersion Technologies posted FY2025 net income of $328.16 million on the back of prior-year token gains, but the current fiscal year looks very different. Chairman Thomas Lee has publicly called for a V-shaped crypto recovery, though BMNR shares haven’t confirmed the thesis yet.
The Case for Strategy
Strategy holds 818,334 BTC as of May 3, making MSTR stock effectively a leveraged Bitcoin bet. Barclays initiated coverage with an Overweight rating and a $130 price target, and consensus targets sit at $321 with a rating mix of 1 Strong Buy, 12 Buy, and 1 Hold.
The bear case is real. Strategy’s Q1 2026 results delivered a $12.54 billion net loss driven by a $14.46 billion unrealized loss on BTC holdings, and Polymarket traders assign only a 13% probability that Strategy reaches 1 million BTC by year-end. Reddit sentiment has flipped bearish as retail digests headlines that “Strategy just sold $216 million in Bitcoin to pay dividends and the model is showing its limits.” With a beta near 3.5, MSTR stock is the highest-potential-upside, highest-volatility choice.
The Case for Circle Internet Group
Circle Internet Group is the operating business in this group. The company’s Q1 2026 EPS of $0.21 beat the $0.1771 consensus by 19%, revenue rose 20% year over year (YoY) to $694.13 million, and USDC in circulation reached $77 billion, or 28% of the U.S. dollar stablecoin market.
CEO Jeremy Allaire stated that Circle is “building trusted infrastructure for AI-native economic activity and a more programmable internet financial system.” Analysts see 116% upside to a $137 target for CRCL stock, with 13 Buy, 11 Hold, and 1 Sell ratings. The Barclays team framed its coverage launch by stating that “after a broad sector reset, stock selection and identifying durable franchises positioned for long-term growth matters,” a description that fits Circle stock.
The Verdict and What to Watch
Bitmine Immersion Technologies looks like the speculative laggard in this trio, tethered to the weakest of the two major cryptos. Rotation candidates split according to these stocks’ risk-appetite profiles. MSTR stock offers aggressive Bitcoin-leveraged upside with a Barclays Overweight rating, while CRCL stock offers the most fundamentally grounded, durable-franchise exposure with positive forward earnings.
Investors uncomfortable with single-stock treasury risk can watch spot crypto ETFs including the iShares Bitcoin Trust (NASDAQ:IBIT) and the iShares Ethereum Trust (NASDAQ:ETHA) as lower-single-stock-risk paths to the same underlying assets. These vehicles track highly volatile assets, so position sizing still matters.
Given betas that swing violently with crypto prices, investors should consider keeping their position sizes modest across all three names. The next catalyst worth watching is Strategy’s next Bitcoin activity update this week, since Polymarket assigns a 24% probability of a purchase announcement between July 7 and July 13.
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