10x Research: The battle over stablecoin regulation heats up, with increasing strategic divergence between Circle and certain CEXs

Gate News reports that on March 25th, 10x Research posted an analysis on the X platform indicating that the battle over stablecoin economics has begun between Circle and a certain CEX. Circle’s stock price recently dropped about 0% in a single day, with some investors attributing this to uncertainties caused by the CLARITY Act. However, others believe the bill could be a structural positive. Circle supports a federal stablecoin regulatory framework to gain institutional legitimacy and long-term growth for USDC, while the CEX focuses more on short-term profits through yield-bearing balances, creating a business model conflict. Under the regulatory framework, Circle may abandon some high-profit distribution models but will gain more sustainable “regulatory certainty,” which could promote institutional adoption, global settlement scenarios, and deeper integration with traditional finance. 10x Research adds that, given the current market environment, they will reassess the previously proposed strategy of “long Circle, short CEX” and evaluate whether it remains effective.