[stordoff]

With stocks, you can more easily separate out the actual performance of the company from speculation (profits vs. stock price), and in the worst case they have assets that provide some intrinsic value. They also operate in a more stable legal environment - it's unlikely that new regulations would instantaneously devalue companies (which could happen with crypocurrencies as they still aren't a settled part of the legal world), and statements made by the company (projected revenues etc.) are regulated.

You can certainly draw parallels between stocks and crypocurrency speculation, but I'd say the differences between the two are fairly fundamental.