Coinbase shares have fallen nearly 40% from their 2025 peak, wiping out $23 billion in market value and sending the company’s stock into a bear market. The drop, which pushed COIN to a low of $176 this month, reflects broader turmoil in the crypto market and comes despite recent strategic developments aimed at expansion and diversification.
The Nasdaq-listed exchange, once valued at $86 billion, is now worth just $48 billion. The decline mirrors steep losses across the crypto sector, where Bitcoin has corrected from $109,300 to $84,000, and Ethereum has plunged from $4,080 to $1,800. Most altcoins have also collapsed. Crypto ETFs, once a source of optimism, have shed significant assets this year.
Coinbase’s market slide comes as it enters advanced talks to acquire Deribit, a leading crypto derivatives platform, in a deal that could be worth as much as $5 billion, according to Bloomberg.
The potential acquisition would mark a strategic shift, expanding Coinbase’s footprint into the fast-growing derivatives space. Deribit specializes in options and futures trading—tools that appeal to both institutional and retail investors seeking exposure to crypto’s volatility.
The move would also position Coinbase alongside competitors like Binance, MEXC, Kraken, and OKX, which are expanding aggressively in both spot and derivatives markets. Kraken itself finalized a $1.5 billion acquisition of NinjaTrader this week, reinforcing the trend of consolidation in the sector.
Coinbase is pursuing this expansion amid regulatory developments in the U.S. The Securities and Exchange Commission, under Chair Mark T. Uyeda, recently ended its lawsuit against Coinbase over allegations of offering unregistered securities.
Similar cases against Uniswap, Ripple Labs, Kraken, and NFT platform OpenSea have also been dropped, removing a cloud of uncertainty that has loomed over the industry for months.
Despite the market downturn, Coinbase’s financials showed strength in the fourth quarter of 2024. Revenue climbed from $904 million to $1.128 billion. Notably, the company nearly matched its transaction-based revenue—$572 million—with income from subscriptions and services, which totaled $641 million. The latter category, composed largely of stablecoin-related fees, blockchain rewards, and custodial services, offers higher margins and greater stability.
Analysts anticipate slower growth in 2025 as crypto prices ease. Forecasts project $2.23 billion in revenue for the current quarter, a 35% increase from the prior year. Full-year revenue is expected to reach $8.12 billion, though those projections hinge on the performance of the crypto market.
Coinbase is also pursuing international growth, announcing plans to expand into India, a market with a large base of tech-savvy users. The exchange continues to advocate for regulatory reform, backing campaigns like Stand with Crypto to push for clearer rules in the U.S.
The company is reportedly exploring tokenization of its own COIN stock, which would allow fractional ownership via blockchain and potentially broaden investor access.
