Coinbase Global Inc. shares closed at an all-time high, marking a major milestone in a rally powered by renewed enthusiasm for the cryptocurrency sector from both Wall Street and Washington.
The crypto exchange’s stock climbed 5.5% on Thursday to finish at $375.07, surpassing its previous peak of $357.39 set in November 2021, just months after its direct listing.
Coinbase shares have skyrocketed over 1,000% from their late 2022 lows, when the collapse of FTX cast serious doubts on the future of digital assets. Since then, the crypto market has rebounded, and Coinbase has gained support from prominent backers, including U.S. President Donald Trump. Just last month, the company was added to the S&P 500 Index.
The latest leg of Coinbase’s rally followed the U.S. Senate’s approval of new legislation supporting stablecoins pegged to the U.S. dollar — assets viewed as a promising mechanism for payments. Benchmark analyst Mark Palmer noted this shift could help Coinbase diversify its revenue, reducing reliance on trading income, which is under pressure from increased competition.
“The stock’s performance serves as ‘validation of the road map that Coinbase management had laid out to diversify its platform and position itself for long-term growth,’” Palmer said. “It also signals that the market is acknowledging that crypto is here to stay.”
Coinbase shares have surged more than 45% since the Senate passed the stablecoin bill last week. The exchange has a revenue-sharing partnership with Circle Internet Group Inc., a recently public stablecoin issuer that has also seen a sharp rise in value. Meanwhile, traditional payment giants like Mastercard Inc. and Visa Inc., despite having their own stablecoin projects, have seen their shares come under pressure.
Crypto-related stocks remain highly volatile, and Coinbase is still vulnerable to fluctuations in token prices. Analysts tracked by Bloomberg currently estimate the stock is overvalued, with an average price target of just $287.
Yet Palmer maintains a bullish view, with a price target of $421. Bernstein analyst Gautam Chhugani went even further in a Wednesday note, raising his target to a Street-high of $510 — well above Coinbase’s intraday record of $429.54 on the day of its 2021 debut.
“The US government intends to bring in a new digital assets framework including the stablecoin bill and a digital asset market structure bill, which would bring crypto capital markets back to the US,” wrote Chhugani, who rates the shares as outperform. “As the regulatory headwinds for the crypto industry have receded, Coinbase has emerged as the premier crypto financial platform,” he said.
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