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Will Growing Stablecoin Adoption Strengthen Coinbase's Prospects?

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Key Takeaways

  • COIN benefits from rising USDC adoption, with average balances across its products hitting a record $20B.
  • USDC rewards, Base blockchain and Coinbase One Card drive engagement and diversify revenues beyond trading.
  • Partnerships with Citigroup and Moov expand COIN's stablecoin reach into traditional banking and payments.

Coinbase Global (COIN - Free Report) is well-positioned to capitalize on increasing stablecoin adoption, particularly USDC, as it diversifies beyond cryptocurrency trading into digital financial infrastructure.

Stablecoins facilitate faster, cost-effective payments, cross-border transfers and blockchain-based settlements. In the last reported quarter, average USDC balances held across Coinbase products reached a record $20 billion, reflecting growing adoption. Coinbase also captured about 50% of USDC economics over the preceding year, highlighting the revenue potential of its expanding stablecoin ecosystem.

Coinbase is strengthening its position by integrating USDC across consumer and institutional offerings. USDC rewards through Coinbase One encourage higher customer balances, while its Base blockchain supports low-cost transactions and decentralized applications. The Coinbase One Card further integrates digital assets into everyday spending, potentially boosting customer engagement and retention.

These initiatives create diversified revenue opportunities across reserve-related income, payments, custody and subscriptions, while reducing reliance on volatile trading revenues. Coinbase's expanded partnership with Citigroup reinforces the growing institutional acceptance of stablecoins. Additionally, its collaboration with Moov aims to provide stablecoin payment and custody infrastructure to community banks and credit unions, extending its reach into traditional banking.

Coinbase's expanding USDC ecosystem, strategic partnerships and payments infrastructure position it to benefit from the long-term growth of stablecoins while building a more diversified and recurring revenue base.

What About COIN’s Peers?

Stablecoins, especially USDC, are also fundamental to Circle Internet Group’s (CRCL - Free Report) business strategy. As USDC’s issuer, Circle earns revenues through interest on reserves and transaction flows. Stablecoins also support Circle’s expansion into payments, DeFi and global finance, reinforcing its role as a core infrastructure provider in the digital asset ecosystem.

Stablecoins are playing a growing role in BlackRock Inc.’s (BLK - Free Report) digital strategy. Through its partnership with Circle, BlackRock manages USDC reserves, gaining direct exposure to stablecoin infrastructure. This supports BlackRock’s broader push to modernize finance by leveraging blockchain technology for tokenized assets, real-time settlements and more efficient capital markets.

COIN’s Price Performance

Shares of COIN have lost 28.8% in the year-to-date period, underperforming the industry.

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COIN’s Expensive Valuation

COIN trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.88, significantly above the industry average of 14.44. 

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Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Estimate Movement for COIN

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for COIN’s third-quarter and fourth-quarter 2026 earnings per share (EPS) witnessed northbound movement in the last seven days. The same holds true for 2026 and 2027.
 

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Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The consensus estimates for COIN’s 2026 revenues and earnings indicate year-over-year decreases. Nonetheless, the consensus estimates for 2027 revenues and earnings imply year-over-year increases.

COIN stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). 

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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