In the first half of 2025, the global crypto asset market experienced a key transition from "retail investor driven" to "institutional dominated". Bitcoin hit a year-to-date high of $110,000 on May 22, and the influx of institutional funds pushed crypto assets from pure speculative products to asset allocation tools. Against this backdrop, crypto concept stocks ushered in new investment opportunities.

In the U.S. stock market, Coinbase's stock price fluctuated at a high level, reaching a high of $271.95 on May 22. Circle's stock price triggered circuit breakers several times due to a surge on its listing day on June 5, and eventually rose by about 167% from its issue price. In terms of Hong Kong stocks, Hong Kong's "Stablecoin Ordinance" boosted the market. Huaxing Capital Holdings attracted much attention for its early investment in Circle, and rose by more than 14% during trading on June 9. Hong Kong stocks such as Lianlian Digital, OKEx, Yika Technology, and ZhongAn Online also rose sharply. The A-share market was also affected by the enthusiastic market atmosphere, and individual stocks such as Cuiwei Shares, Zhongke Jincai, and Hengbao Shares performed outstandingly.

Overall, the rise in crypto asset prices from the end of May to the beginning of June became an important driving force for the market performance of crypto concept stocks, marking that investment has entered a new stage of institutionalization, compliance and value reconstruction, and investors have higher expectations for the transition from "cryptocurrency speculation" to "stock speculation."

The resonance logic of crypto assets and crypto concept stocks

Why have crypto assets performed so well recently? Overall, there are several reasons.

First, the institutional control and capital concentration effects are significant. In May 2025, Bitcoin hit a high point for the year, and on-chain data showed that the proportion of institutional holdings increased significantly. Asset management giants such as BlackRock and Fidelity attracted billions of dollars in funds through spot ETFs, marking the official inclusion of Bitcoin in the global asset allocation model.

Secondly, the Ethereum ecosystem exploded simultaneously, with Layer 2 transactions accounting for more than 60% and the total locked value (TVL) exceeding $108 billion. The Cancun upgrade improved network processing efficiency, driving up ETH prices, and the frequency of smart contract calls increased by 55% year-on-year.

In addition, the compliance process of stablecoins has accelerated, reshaping the underlying financial infrastructure. The US GENIUS Act established the requirement of "100% US dollar/US Treasury reserves", pushing the market value of mainstream stablecoins such as USDC and USDT to exceed US$280 billion. The implementation of the Hong Kong Stablecoin Ordinance directly serves cross-border payments and supply chain finance scenarios.

These factors have jointly driven up the prices of crypto assets and also boosted the stock price performance of related listed companies.

Crypto concept stocks: Industry coupling and valuation reshaping behind stock price linkage

With the booming crypto asset market, crypto concept stocks have also ushered in an investment boom.

In terms of US stocks, Coinbase maintained high volatility from the end of May to the beginning of June, reaching a high of $271.95 on May 22. The share price of mining company Marathon Digital Holdings remained stable in the range of $15.5 to $16, and Riot Platforms remained in the range of $4.5 to $5. Stablecoin issuer Circle went public on June 5, and its share price soared 167% on the first day, becoming the focus of the market. Mining and blockchain stocks such as Bitfarms and HIVE Blockchain also rose to varying degrees.

In the Hong Kong stock market, due to the positive impact of the upcoming entry into force of the Hong Kong Stablecoin Ordinance, stablecoin and crypto stocks performed strongly. China Renaissance Capital Holdings once rose by more than 14% in the morning of June 9 and closed up more than 10%, attracting much attention for its early investment in Circle. Lianlian Digital rose nearly 80% during the day on June 2; OKEx Cloud Chain rose by more than 41%; Yika Technology rose by nearly 40%; ZhongAn Online rose 31.56% on May 29, and the cumulative increase in the past five trading days exceeded 70%. Lianyirong Technology, JD.com, China Everbright Holdings, etc. also followed the increase, with most increases ranging from 5% to 12%.

In the A-share market, the digital currency and password security sectors were active. Cuiwei shares rose 10.04% on June 3; Zhongke Jincai hit the daily limit on June 5; Hengbao shares rose 4.36% during trading on June 9, with a cumulative increase of nearly 30% in the past five days; Asia Optoelectronics rose about 4.6% from the end of May to the beginning of June. Overall, A-share related targets were driven by policies and technology and performed steadily.

Three driving forces for value reconstruction: compliance, institutionalization and technological innovation

The recent sharp increase in the value of crypto assets and related stocks reflects a profound restructuring of the entire industry’s value system. This transformation is mainly driven by three major driving forces.

First, compliance has become the cornerstone of industry development. In 2025, major economies around the world will accelerate the improvement of their regulatory frameworks. The US GENIUS Act requires that stablecoin reserve assets be 100% anchored to the US dollar or US Treasury bonds and audited regularly. The EU MiCA Act promotes industry centralization, while Hong Kong has formed a unique advantage through a "dual-track" regulatory model. Compliance not only improves market transparency and security, but also brings a "license premium". Institutional investors are more inclined to choose compliant platforms, and capital inflows are more stable and continuous.

Secondly, the continuous influx of institutional funds has reshaped the market pricing mechanism. Represented by BlackRock Bitcoin ETF, institutional investors have included crypto assets in their long-term asset allocation, and sovereign funds and corporate treasuries have used digital assets as an anti-inflation tool. The institutionalization of the capital structure has strengthened the linkage effect between the currency price and related stocks, and promoted the market from retail speculation to rational investment.

Finally, technological innovation has injected new impetus into the development of the industry. Traditional financial institutions are actively exploring the application of blockchain technology, launching on-chain gold tokens and bond platforms to improve asset digitization and transaction efficiency. Technological progress not only optimizes infrastructure, but also gives crypto-related companies more "hard technology" attributes, driving the market valuation logic from pure financial attributes to technological innovation attributes.

These three driving forces interact with each other, jointly pushing crypto assets and their related stocks into a new era of greater maturity, compliance and technology-driven, and the value assessment system is thus achieving a qualitative leap.

Regulatory differentiation, scenario implementation and investment paradigm shift

As the global crypto asset market matures, the regulatory environment will become more differentiated and detailed in 2026 and beyond. The US SEC plans to launch a crypto asset custody license, the EU strengthens anti-money laundering (AML) and customer identification (KYC) rules, and Hong Kong accelerates the construction of a digital asset hub to actively attract compliant crypto companies to settle down. This regulatory difference not only promotes the value of compliance licenses, but also creates cross-regional compliance arbitrage opportunities, making companies with compliance qualifications in multiple places the preferred targets for institutional capital migration.

Industry concentration will further increase, licensed institutions will control most of the market share, and compliance qualifications will become the core threshold for the survival and development of enterprises, building a strong institutional moat and gaining the favor of long-term capital.

In terms of asset digitization and scene implementation, real world assets (RWA) are becoming an important bridge connecting traditional finance and digital finance. McKinsey predicts that the global RWA market size will exceed hundreds of billions of dollars in the next few years, and real estate, carbon credits, supply chain finance and other fields will be the main implementation scenarios. The application of blockchain technology has accelerated the improvement of asset securitization and circulation efficiency.

At the corporate level, there are more and more cases of digital asset allocation. Take the Hong Kong-based cooking platform "RiRiZhu" as an example. Its parent company has launched a large-scale Bitcoin purchase plan, planning to hold a total of 5,000 Bitcoins within three years, aiming to use digital assets as an important value reserve and explore their potential in the digital economy. This practice of incorporating digital assets into corporate balance sheets marks a shift in the investment paradigm from pure price speculation to diversified asset allocation and value symbiosis.

Overall, the continuous improvement and differentiation of supervision, the continuous implementation of digital asset scenarios, and the upgrading of institutional and corporate investment concepts are jointly pushing crypto assets and related stock markets into a new stage of greater maturity, compliance and value-driven. Investors should pay attention to "crypto value creators" with compliance advantages, technological innovation and scenario application capabilities, and seize long-term investment opportunities that cross cycles.

Conclusion: Value Anchoring under the New Paradigm

The institutionalization of crypto assets is not a cyclical bubble, but the institutional acceptance of the "decentralized trust mechanism" by the global financial system. From "speculating on coins" to "speculating on stocks", the investment logic has been upgraded from zero-sum game to value symbiosis. Compliance constitutes the bottom line for corporate survival, technology determines the growth slope, and the implementation of scenarios shapes the valuation ceiling.

The policy dividends of Hong Kong stocks, the business transformation of US stocks, and the technological breakthroughs of A-shares together constitute a sample of the reconstruction of the market valuation system. The core opportunities in the future will no longer be short-term price games, but will focus on compliance barriers, technical depth, and scenario nesting capabilities to explore "crypto value creators" that cross cycles. This new paradigm indicates that a new era of deep integration of digital finance and traditional finance has begun.