Coinbase Becomes First Pure-Play Crypto Stock In S&P 500, Analyst Sees Major Institutional Upside

Rosenblatt analyst Chris Brendler maintained Coinbase Global Inc COIN with a Buy and raised the price target from $260 to $300 on Wednesday.

Coinbase shares are up 30% over the past week versus a 6% move in Bitcoin and 5% in the S&P 500 Index after the news was announced about the company joining on May 19.

Although first-quarter earnings were solid given market conditions, the catalysts for the move are much more about the addition to the S&P 500 as the stock was up 24% Monday in the wake of the announcement after the market close on Tuesday.

Also Read: Coinbase’s Subscription Gains, Deribit Acquisition, Blockchain Revenue Strength Prompt Analyst Support

While it’s not uncommon to see stocks rise on this type of news, the outsized move in Coinbase is warranted, as per Brendler.

Coinbase will be the first pure-play crypto stock in the S&P 500. More importantly, as the analyst highlighted previously, Coinbase institutional ownership remains relatively low for a company of its size, scale and market position.

With the S&P changes effect next week and a compelling outlook, Brendler expects institutional ownership to increase significantly.

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The other key catalyst for Coinbase’s recent outperformance is likely last week’s announcement of the acquisition of Deribit, the global leader in crypto options trading (75% market share, $30 billion in open interest).

On Tuesday, the analyst had the opportunity to discuss the deal with Greg Tusar, Coinbase’s VP of Institutional Product, who led this M&A initiative.

Brendler highlighted the foundation for this acquisition was a strong cultural fit, Deribit’s $1 trillion+ in trading volumes are 70%-80% institutional, and the crypto options market does not yet exist in the US. Coinbase will be working closely with regulators to bring this business to the US, and the analyst expects to see progress in 2026.

Despite the outsized move over the last week, Brendler is still bullish, as Coinbase remains one of his favorite ideas. The macro backdrop has improved, trading volumes are rebounding and there’s still lots of upside potential from regulatory clarity.

COIN Price Action: Coinbase stock is up 0.82% to $259.01 at publication on Wednesday.

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