Circle Stock Under Pressure As Rival OUSD Sparks Bearish Calls, Exec Dumps $30M Shares

Despite its success in the crypto market, Circle stock is facing pressure as a rival stablecoin, Open USD (OUSD), has entered the fray. Its launch has raised fresh doubts about USDC’s future growth prospects.

Following a bearish turn in Wall Street analysts’ sentiment on its earnings, the stock has continued falling. Also, Circle President Heath Tarbert has just sold nearly $30.8 million worth of the company’s stock since June 2025. This has also weighed on the CRCL stock.

OUSD Launch Fuels Bearish Calls On Circle Stock

Investor sentiment turned sour for Circle when Open Standard announced Open USD (OUSD). For context, OUSD is a stablecoin supported by over 140 companies, including Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, BlackRock, BNY and Coinbase.

The news caused a quick sell-off in the Circle stock. The CRCL share price fell 24% to $60.46 after the launch. The loss quickened following the stock’s delisting from several Russell Growth indexes as well.

Since then analysts have been more cautious. Mizuho analysts lowered its price estimate for the CRCL stock to $50. The firm said that OUSD’s revenue-sharing scheme will strain Circle’s margins and increase distribution expenses.

JPMorgan also cut down its expectations of earnings for Circle and Coinbase. The bank cited revenue sharing adjustments for USDC balances in Hyperliquid. If USDC adoption is strengthened, it would cut down the companies’ reserve income, it said.

Circle keeps expanding its regulated infrastructure, despite increased competition. The company received final approval from the OCC to create Circle National Trust, a federally supervised trust bank, which will initially provide digital asset custody, on July 10. However, Mizuho said it is not enough to keep Circle stock on track.

Tarbert Sells $30.8 Million Worth of CRCL Shares

Circle’s President Heath Tarbert made 10 insider trades from June 2025 to July 2026, according to SEC Form 4 filings. The sales of stock and the exercise of options totaled approximately $30.77 million.

The filings also indicate that Tarbert continues to hold over 503,000 Circle’s shares. During the period, there were no open-market purchases disclosed.

On the other hand, earlier this month, Tarbert told FOX Business that Circle isn’t into following the day-to-day movements of stocks. Long-term execution continues to be the company’s priority, he said.

Tarbert also represented Circle’s competitive interests. He pointed to the network effects of USDC, which circulates roughly $73 billion worth of blockchains across 34 chains. He further noted how challenging it is for new competitors to match, possibly hinting at OUSD stablecoin.

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