Bernstein is doubling down on Coinbase’s big push beyond spot crypto trading, keeping a Buy rating and a $330 price target after the exchange laid out a slate of new products designed to broaden its revenue mix.
Why it matters
Coinbase used its recent System Update event to unveil several initiatives — from SEC-registered AI advisory tools to tokenized stocks and expanded derivatives access — that aim to fuse crypto services with traditional finance. Bernstein says those moves reinforce its long-term bullish view and leave “substantial upside” in the shares, even after trimming its prior $440 target in response to the broader crypto downturn.
What Coinbase announced
- An SEC-registered AI investment advisor that can read customer portfolio data and account history, accept natural-language prompts, and return portfolio suggestions on-platform.
- Integration for AI agents (via systems like ChatGPT and Claude) that can be authorized to set trading parameters and execute trades for users.
- Expanded product lines including derivatives, prediction markets, pre-IPO trading for large private tech companies, and plans to roll out tokenized stocks backed one-for-one by underlying shares.
Coinbase frames these offerings as steps toward an “Everything Exchange” that blends crypto-native services with conventional financial products.
Market reaction and price action
Shares rose about 1.6% on Wednesday to roughly $171.93, after closing the prior session at $169.27. Investors remain attentive to macro drivers — notably the Federal Reserve’s policy decision and the path for interest rates — which continue to influence crypto markets and trading volumes. Bitcoin briefly dipped below $65,000 ahead of the Fed meeting, and stronger-than-expected retail sales data have pushed expectations that rates may stay elevated longer.
How Wall Street sees it
- Bernstein: Reaffirmed Buy, $330 price target. Sees growth opportunities across stock trading, stablecoin infrastructure, blockchain services, custody, and institutional products.
- Barclays: Maintained an Underweight and a $107 target. Warns that new products (tokenized equities, AI advisory, options, agentic payments) may not offset weak crypto trading if volumes stay subdued.
- Benchmark: Kept a Buy and set a $270 target, with analyst Mark Palmer saying Coinbase is shedding its purely cyclical-brokerage label and building a platform to attract traditional finance demand.
- Cantor Fitzgerald: Held an Overweight and a $250 target, noting that ongoing product development strengthens Coinbase’s competitive position but that crypto-price swings can still create cyclical headwinds.
Bottom line
Coinbase’s product push is a clear strategic bet on diversification — marrying AI, tokenization, and more traditional market structures to its core crypto exchange. Analysts are split on whether the new revenue streams will fully offset periods of weak crypto trading, but several firms — led by Bernstein — see meaningful upside if Coinbase can execute and capture demand from mainstream finance.
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