Is Coinbase Stock a Buy or Hold as Bitcoin Tops $100,000?

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Coinbase Global (COIN) stock has scaled the price charts in recent months, tracking the path of bitcoin's price. All eyes are on the cryptocurrency exchange again after bitcoin surpassed the psychologically significant $100,000 level for the first time late Wednesday night after President-elect Donald Trump nominated crypto-friendly Paul Atkins to head the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

COIN is a primary beneficiary from bitcoin's resurgent popularity because its trading platform tends to see increased transaction volume from crypto-enthused retail and institutional investors. In addition, Coinbase holds 9,363 bitcoin on its balance sheet as of September 30, which is worth approximately $950 million based on the cryptocurrency's current price.

While $100,000 was a major milestone for bitcoin, financial services firm Bernstein thinks the digital asset can go even higher.

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"We expect bitcoin to hit a cycle-high of $200,000 in late 2025," says Bernstein analyst Gautam Chhugani.

"We expect bitcoin to emerge as the new-age premier 'store of value' asset, eventually replacing gold over the next decade and becoming a permanent part of institutional multi-asset allocation and a standard for corporate treasury management," he adds.

Is Coinbase stock a buy, sell or hold?

Wall Street is bullish on Coinbase Global too. According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, the consensus recommendation among the 25 covering analysts it tracks is a Buy.

However, analysts' price targets have failed to keep up with the financial stock's surge higher. Indeed, shares have more than doubled since early September. The average analyst price target of $270.25 represents a discount of nearly 20% to current levels. Wall Street could issue price-target hikes if Coinbase continues to climb.

Financial services firm Needham is one of the more bullish outfits on COIN stock with a Buy rating and $375 price target.

"We view Coinbase as an attractive way to play the growing crypto asset universe, which includes overlap in the high-growth areas of stablecoins, decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), exchanges in spot/derivatives, and blockchains (Base)," wrote Needham analyst John Todaro in a November 18 note.

The analyst expects Coinbase to "broaden its applications to include a variety of crypto-related financial services activities" over the long term.

Joey Solitro is a freelance financial journalist at Kiplinger with more than a decade of experience. A longtime equity analyst, Joey has covered a range of industries for media outlets including The Motley Fool, Seeking Alpha, Market Realist, and TipRanks. Joey holds a bachelor's degree in business administration.