Coinbase Global, Inc. (NASDAQ: COIN) is trading lower on Tuesday, December 23, 2025, as a broader dip in major cryptocurrencies weighs on crypto-linked equities—even while the company keeps stacking new product launches and acquisitions designed to make Coinbase more than “just” a crypto exchange.
As of today’s session, COIN is hovering around $239 per share, down roughly 3%–4% on the day. [1]
That intraday drop follows a choppy stretch in December: COIN closed at $247.90 on Dec. 22 after a modest gain, then pulled back today as risk appetite cooled again. [2]
Coinbase stock today: COIN tracks crypto volatility—despite expanding beyond crypto
Coinbase remains one of the most direct “public market proxies” for crypto sentiment. When bitcoin and ethereum soften, COIN often follows—sometimes amplified by the stock’s historically high beta and the market’s tendency to treat exchange revenue as cyclical with trading volumes.
Key trading context for COIN today:
- Price: about $239
- Previous close (Dec. 22):$247.90
- Day range (Dec. 23): roughly $238.8 to $245.2
- Market cap: about $64.5B
- 52-week range: roughly $142.6 to $444.7 [3]
The market’s message is straightforward: new business lines can help diversify Coinbase’s revenue model over time, but in the near term, COIN still trades like a high-octane bet on crypto activity.
Biggest headline into Dec. 23: Coinbase to buy The Clearing Company to deepen its prediction markets push
One of the most closely watched Coinbase headlines heading into today is the company’s agreement to acquire The Clearing Company, a prediction markets startup. The deal is expected to close in January, with financial terms not disclosed publicly. [4]
Why it matters for the stock:
Prediction markets—contracts tied to real-world outcomes—have moved from a niche crypto corner into a mainstream conversation, especially after high-profile election cycles and rising participation. Coinbase’s move signals it wants to be a primary venue for these products, not merely a distributor.
Reuters described the acquisition as Coinbase’s tenth this year and noted other big 2025 deals including Deribit (a major crypto derivatives venue) and Echo, underscoring Coinbase’s appetite for M&A as it broadens its product stack. [5]
Coinbase itself framed the acquisition as part of “powering the future of prediction markets” and accelerating product development in this category. [6]
Stocks + event contracts: Coinbase is stepping onto Robinhood’s turf
Prediction markets are only one piece of the “everything exchange” pivot. Coinbase recently announced it will begin offering stock trading and event contracts tied to real-world outcomes, positioning itself more directly against retail trading platforms like Robinhood and brokerages such as Interactive Brokers. [7]
This strategy has two major implications for COIN investors:
- Engagement and frequency: If Coinbase becomes the place users keep open daily for multiple asset classes (not just when crypto is hot), it could reduce the company’s dependence on crypto trading cycles.
- Regulatory exposure shifts: Adding new financial products can diversify revenue, but it also invites closer scrutiny—especially for event contracts, where oversight and definitions can differ across jurisdictions.
Coinbase’s roadmap also includes tokenized or “always-on” concepts for equities trading, further blending traditional markets and onchain rails. [8]
A key industry forecast frequently referenced in this debate: analysts cited by Reuters have suggested event contracts could expand from roughly $2B in annual revenue today to about $10B by 2030 if institutional participation continues growing. [9]
Regulatory flashpoint: Coinbase sues three states over prediction markets
With expansion comes legal friction.
Coinbase has filed lawsuits against Michigan, Illinois, and Connecticut, challenging efforts to treat certain prediction market products under state gambling-style frameworks. Coinbase’s position is that these markets should fall primarily under Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) jurisdiction rather than a patchwork of state-by-state enforcement. [10]
This matters for COIN in two ways:
- Timing risk: Legal battles can slow rollouts or force product changes just as Coinbase is trying to scale new revenue streams.
- Headline volatility: Regulatory uncertainty can swing investor sentiment quickly, especially when the products in question are new and politically sensitive.
At the same time, market coverage has noted that day-to-day COIN moves are often still more tethered to bitcoin’s direction than to legal developments—at least in the short run. [11]
Another major 2025 theme powering Coinbase: stablecoins move deeper into mainstream finance
Coinbase’s expansion story in late 2025 is not only about prediction markets and stocks. Stablecoins—especially USDC—are increasingly central to how Coinbase is pitching its future as financial infrastructure.
Klarna taps Coinbase infrastructure for USDC funding
In a notable sign of stablecoins moving into corporate finance, Klarna announced it plans to use Coinbase infrastructure to add a USDC-denominated funding source, aiming to diversify its funding options and reach a new pool of institutional capital. [12]
Even for readers who don’t follow crypto closely, that headline is significant: it’s a mainstream fintech brand experimenting with stablecoin rails as part of its funding stack—exactly the type of “real economy” use case Coinbase has been trying to accelerate.
Coinbase launches “Custom Stablecoins”
Coinbase also introduced a “stablecoin-as-a-service” product it calls Custom Stablecoins, designed to let businesses create branded stablecoins backed 1:1 by collateral (including USDC), without building full infrastructure in-house. [13]
This is strategically important for Coinbase’s longer-term narrative: if more companies issue and distribute stablecoin-like products via Coinbase tooling, Coinbase could earn more recurring, infrastructure-style revenue—an offset to the boom-and-bust rhythm of transaction fees.
Fundamentals check: what Coinbase last reported—and what it guided for next
While today’s market action is mostly about sentiment, Coinbase’s most recent quarterly disclosure still frames how analysts model 2026.
In its Q3 2025 shareholder letter, Coinbase reported:
- Total revenue:$1.9B
- Transaction revenue:$1.0B
- Subscription and services revenue:$747M
- Net income:$433M
- Adjusted EBITDA:$801M [14]
Coinbase also provided Q4 directional outlook commentary, including an expected range for subscription and services revenue and a caution against over-extrapolating early-quarter trends. [15]
Reuters’ coverage of that quarter highlighted strong results tied to active trading conditions and emphasized that Coinbase’s growing mix of subscription/services and derivatives capabilities is part of the company’s evolution beyond spot trading alone. [16]
Forecasts and analyst outlook on Dec. 23, 2025: bullish targets, but short-term estimate revisions are mixed
On the forecasting side, Wall Street still shows meaningful optimism about Coinbase’s upside—tempered by the reality that near-term earnings expectations can shift quickly with crypto volumes.
Consensus price target (12-month): about $378, implying substantial upside from today’s ~$239 level, with the analyst consensus rating broadly in “Buy” territory (as tracked by StockAnalysis). [17]
But not all signals are uniformly positive. A Zacks analysis circulating today noted that COIN has been trending in investor searches and summarized recent earnings estimate revisions, including:
- Expected $1.08 EPS for the current quarter (per its cited consensus)
- Recent downward estimate change over the last 30 days
- A Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) signal [18]
Taken together, the “forecast” picture looks like this:
- Longer-term narrative (bull case): Coinbase becomes a multi-asset platform (“everything exchange”), builds recurring infrastructure revenue (stablecoins, custody, services), and benefits from pro-crypto regulatory momentum and broader tokenization trends.
- Near-term reality (risk case): Crypto market softness reduces trading intensity, and new products (event contracts, prediction markets) face uneven regulatory treatment—creating delays, compliance costs, or product constraints.
What COIN investors are watching next
Heading into early 2026, the next set of catalysts that could matter most for Coinbase stock include:
- Closing timeline and integration plan for The Clearing Company acquisition (expected January close, per reporting and Coinbase commentary) [19]
- Rollout progress for stock trading, event contracts, and tokenization initiatives [20]
- Legal and regulatory signals around prediction markets and whether federal vs. state oversight gets clarified in court [21]
- Stablecoin adoption momentum, including whether Klarna’s USDC funding effort becomes a template for other large fintechs [22]
- Next earnings window: COIN’s next earnings date is currently tracked for February 2026 by market data aggregators [23]
Bottom line for Dec. 23, 2025
Coinbase stock is down today because the market is still trading COIN as a high-volatility crypto bellwether. But the company is simultaneously building a broader identity—one that blends crypto trading, derivatives, prediction markets, equities, tokenization, and stablecoin-powered financial plumbing.
Whether this ambitious “everything exchange” strategy results in a structurally less cyclical Coinbase—or simply a bigger company with more regulatory fronts—will be one of the most consequential questions for COIN in 2026.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
References
1. stockanalysis.com, 2. stockanalysis.com, 3. stockanalysis.com, 4. www.reuters.com, 5. www.reuters.com, 6. www.coinbase.com, 7. www.reuters.com, 8. www.reuters.com, 9. www.reuters.com, 10. www.barrons.com, 11. www.barrons.com, 12. investors.klarna.com, 13. www.coinbase.com, 14. www.sec.gov, 15. www.sec.gov, 16. www.reuters.com, 17. stockanalysis.com, 18. finviz.com, 19. www.reuters.com, 20. www.reuters.com, 21. www.barrons.com, 22. investors.klarna.com, 23. stockanalysis.com
