Coinbase stock surges 38% on regulatory clarity and a Bernstein price target boost

Shares of Coinbase hit their highest price in a year on Wednesday as the company benefits from increased national and global regulatory clarity, as well as a price target boost from a major investment research firm. 

The stock price of the largest crypto exchange in the U.S. has surged 38% since June 18, after the U.S. Senate passed the first bill to establish a regulatory framework for stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency pegged 1:1 to the U.S. Dollar. The stock has continued to grow this week, gaining 2% on Wednesday to reach a 52-week high of $369 before settling around $352. 

The Senate bill, referred to as the GENIUS act, must still pass the House of Representatives before it becomes law. If it does, it’s expected to provide stablecoin issuers like Circle an unprecedented path to regulatory compliance. It would also be a major benefit to Coinbase’s large stablecoin business, which made up 15% of its total revenue in Q1 of 2025. 

The crypto exchange’s stock was further lifted on June 20 after becoming the first U.S. exchange to receive regulatory approval in the European Union (EU). Coinbase received its Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) license in Luxembourg, allowing the exchange to offer crypto services in all 27 EU member states. 

In addition to recent regulatory tailwinds, investors rushed to buy Coinbase after a Wednesday report from Bernstein, a global equity and research brokerage firm, in which analyst Gautam Chhugani lifted the stock’s price target by the end of 2027 from $310 to $510, a 65% increase. Price targets are projections of a stock’s future price made by financial analysts that often shape investors’ expectations and influence market sentiment. 

Chhugani called Coinbase “the most misunderstood company in our Crypto coverage universe,” saying that investors have not taken advantage of the company’s position as the preeminent crypto stock on the market. 

“It is the only crypto company in the S&P 500, dominates U.S. crypto trading market, runs the largest stablecoin business amongst exchanges, dominates institutional crypto, acquired the largest global crypto options exchange Deribit, and runs the largest and fastest chain, Base, on Ethereum,” Chhugani wrote in his note. 

While acknowledging that Coinbase’s large stablecoin business will be a beneficiary of the GENIUS act, Chhugani also stated that the company could profit from another upcoming piece of legislation. The CLARITY act, introduced in the House of Representatives in May, focuses on solidifying the role of government agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission in regulating cryptocurrencies. 

While these positive developments for Coinbase have already lifted its stock by double-digits, Devin Ryan, an analyst at Citizens Bank, believes there is more room to grow. 

“The pace of news flow around Coinbase has been torrid over the past few weeks and even after an approximately 40% stock move thus far in June, we still do not believe the market is fully connecting the dots,” Ryan, an analyst at Citizens Bank, said in a statement. 

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com