Coinbase Is the Most Misunderstood Business in Crypto; Bernstein Hikes Price Target to $510

Crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) remains one of the most misunderstood companies in the digital assets space, Wall Street broker Bernstein said in a research report Wednesday.

Bernstein raised its Coinbase price target to $510 from $310, and reiterated its outperform rating on the stock. The shares Wednesday morning were more than 4% higher at around $360 in early trading.

While broader sentiment leans bearish, Coinbase is cementing its role as crypto’s “universal bank,” and is bridging retail, institutional, and on-chain infrastructure at a scale unmatched by peers, the report said.

“Coinbase will be a beneficiary of the GENIUS Act and soon to follow CLARITY Act,” analysts led by Gautam Chhugani wrote.

Bernstein said the exchange is the only crypto-native firm in the S&P 500 and continues to dominate U.S. trading despite competitive pressure.

Coinbase’s stablecoin business, responsible for roughly 15% of total revenue, is scaling rapidly with integrations like Shopify, the report noted.

On the institutional side, Coinbase powers custody for eight of the eleven Bitcoin ETF issuers, the broker noted.

With its recent acquisition of Deribit, the largest crypto options exchange globally, and the explosive growth of its Ethereum Layer 2 network, Base, which is already hosting tokenization pilots like JPMorgan’s JPMD coin, Coinbase is quietly assembling the core infrastructure of the next financial system, the report added.

Read more: Coinbase Is Well Positioned to Benefit From U.S. Crypto Regulatory Clarity: Benchmark