NEW YORK — Dec. 23, 2025 (after the closing bell): Coinbase Global, Inc. (NASDAQ: COIN) ended Tuesday in the low-$240s and then ticked modestly lower in extended trading. COIN finished the regular session at $242.30 and was last seen around $241.45 in after-hours trading shortly before 6:00 p.m. ET, a small pullback from the close. [1]
That after-hours drift may look minor, but the context matters heading into Wednesday: Christmas Eve is an early-close session for U.S. equity markets, when liquidity typically thins out and headline-driven moves can feel amplified—especially for a stock like Coinbase that often trades as a high-beta proxy for crypto sentiment. Nasdaq’s calendar shows an early close at 1:00 p.m. ET on Dec. 24, 2025, with markets closed on Dec. 25. [2]
Below is what investors are focusing on tonight—the day’s price action, the crypto backdrop, today’s Coinbase-specific headlines, analyst forecasts, and the practical checklist for the opening bell tomorrow.
COIN stock recap: where Coinbase traded today and after-hours
Coinbase shares tracked the broader “crypto-linked equities” tape on Tuesday. While major U.S. indexes pushed higher—the S&P 500 closed at a record 6,909.79—crypto-related names, including Coinbase, were among the laggards as bitcoin eased. [3]
By the close:
In the background, bitcoin and ether were both lower on the day—important because Coinbase’s stock often reacts not just to spot prices, but to what those prices imply about trading activity, retail engagement, and risk appetite across the crypto complex.
The big driver tonight: bitcoin slid, and “crypto stocks” followed
A key headline investors saw during the session was simple: bitcoin dipped, and crypto-exposed stocks fell with it. Barron’s highlighted Coinbase among the “crypto-linked” names under pressure on the day alongside other crypto-correlated equities. [6]
As of Tuesday evening, bitcoin traded around $87,683 (down about 1.6%), while ether hovered near $2,858 (down about 1.6%).
Why crypto weakness hits Coinbase particularly hard
Coinbase is still widely viewed as a “volume-and-volatility” business in public markets. Even after expanding its subscription and services lines, the stock often trades on a fast mental model:
- Crypto prices down → risk appetite down
- Risk appetite down → trading volumes can cool
- Cooler trading volumes → worries about near-term transaction revenue
That doesn’t mean every down day in bitcoin equals weaker Coinbase fundamentals—far from it—but it helps explain why COIN can diverge from the Nasdaq or S&P 500 on days when crypto sentiment sours.
Today’s crypto-market narrative: year-end liquidity and tax positioning
Tuesday’s crypto-market commentary also leaned into a seasonal theme: thin year-end liquidity and tax-related flows. CoinDesk reported that analysts were pointing to tax-loss harvesting and low liquidity as contributors to late-year chop in crypto markets. [7]
Whether or not that ends up being the dominant explanation, it’s the kind of narrative that tends to matter for COIN into an early-close session—because lower liquidity can increase short-term volatility in both crypto and crypto-adjacent equities.
Coinbase-specific headline today: CEO Brian Armstrong’s SEC Form 4 filing
One genuinely “new” Coinbase-specific datapoint that hit the tape today was an SEC Form 4 filed on Dec. 23, 2025, disclosing transactions by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong.
Key details from the filing:
- Armstrong exercised options for 40,000 shares at $18.71 (transaction date: 12/22/2025). [8]
- The filing also shows multiple sales totaling 40,000 shares on 12/22/2025, reported in separate lines with weighted-average sale prices around the high-$240s to low-$250s. [9]
- The Form 4 notes the trades were executed under a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan adopted Aug. 15, 2025. [10]
How markets typically interpret this (and what to watch tomorrow)
Investors often react less to the fact of an insider sale and more to the context:
- A 10b5-1 plan can reduce the informational signal because it indicates a pre-arranged trading program rather than a spontaneous, sentiment-driven decision. [11]
- Still, it can show up in headlines and screens, and during thin liquidity (like a holiday week), even “routine” filings can nudge short-term sentiment.
For Wednesday, watch whether premarket commentary frames this as routine plan activity or tries to spin it as a directional signal—because the framing can matter when volumes are light.
The strategic story still driving longer-term COIN debates: the “Everything Exchange” push
Even as COIN traded with bitcoin today, longer-term investors continue to debate whether Coinbase is successfully reshaping itself from “crypto exchange” into a broader financial platform.
That strategy has been especially visible in recent product announcements and coverage:
- Coinbase published a “System Update” describing a push to expand trading beyond crypto—highlighting the rollout of stock trading, prediction markets, futures/perps, primary token sales, a broader set of onchain/DEX integrations, and more. [12]
- Today, Built In recapped those expansions for a broader tech/business audience, again emphasizing stock/ETF trading inside the app, prediction markets access, and an AI-focused “advisor” concept. [13]
This matters for the stock because it’s at the heart of the valuation argument:
- Bull case: More products → more user engagement → more diversified revenue → less dependence on crypto spot volumes.
- Bear case: Execution and regulatory friction could slow rollout; new categories may have lower margins or higher compliance costs; and crypto cycles still dominate sentiment.
The other major company catalyst in the background: prediction markets acquisition
While not announced today (it hit Monday), Coinbase’s prediction-markets push is still a fresh catalyst in the news cycle:
- Coinbase said it plans to acquire The Clearing Company, describing it as a move to help power and scale prediction markets as part of its broader platform expansion. [14]
- Reuters reported the deal as Coinbase’s 10th acquisition in 2025, expected to close in January, with financial terms not disclosed, and framed it as a deeper push into prediction markets. [15]
For traders, the near-term significance is less about immediate revenue and more about:
- Whether prediction markets become a meaningful engagement product,
- How regulators respond across jurisdictions,
- And whether Coinbase can avoid a prolonged state-by-state compliance grind as the category expands.
Analyst forecasts tonight: what Wall Street expects for COIN
After today’s dip, forecasts and price targets are still highly dispersed—reflecting how sensitive Coinbase is to assumptions about crypto adoption, regulatory direction, and market structure.
On Benzinga’s analyst ratings aggregation:
- Consensus rating: Buy [16]
- Consensus price target:$377.20 [17]
- High / low targets listed:$510 high and $230 low [18]
- Benzinga also notes recent analyst activity from firms including Cantor Fitzgerald, BTIG, and Deutsche Bank earlier this month. [19]
The spread between $230 and $510 isn’t just noise—it reflects two very different ways to model Coinbase:
- As a maturing broker/exchange with cyclicality and competitive fee pressure, or
- As a foundational “financial rails + marketplace” company in an onchain-enabled financial system.
What to know before the stock market opens tomorrow (Dec. 24, 2025)
1) Tomorrow is an early-close session—expect thinner liquidity and faster moves
Nasdaq’s schedule shows:
- Market opens: 9:30 a.m. ET
- Early close:1:00 p.m. ET on Dec. 24, 2025 [20]
Nasdaq also reminds investors that extended-hours sessions can be more volatile with less liquidity—conditions that can be magnified around holidays. [21]
For COIN, that often means:
- Wider bid/ask spreads,
- Sharper reactions to crypto moves,
- And a higher chance that a single headline dominates the tape for an hour.
2) Watch bitcoin and ether overnight—COIN often reacts before fundamentals do
Because crypto trades 24/7, bitcoin can move significantly while U.S. equities are closed. COIN frequently “catches up” at the next equity open—especially after a notable overnight move.
Heading into Wednesday, the simple checklist is:
- Did BTC stabilize above the high-$80Ks—or break lower?
- Is ETH tracking BTC, or diverging?
- Are there major crypto headlines (exchange issues, regulatory announcements, ETF flow headlines) hitting social and news wires overnight?
(And remember: in an early-close session, the market has fewer hours to process a surprise.)
3) Be aware of headline sensitivity around insider activity
The CEO’s Form 4 is now public and could re-circulate in premarket notes. The key nuance investors may look for is already in the filing: the 10b5-1 plan disclosure. [22]
4) Re-price the “Everything Exchange” narrative—especially if competitors make noise
Coinbase’s product expansion into stock trading and prediction markets is a strategic storyline that can pop back into focus quickly, particularly if:
- A competitor announces a similar rollout,
- Regulators comment on prediction markets,
- Or a major brokerage/fintech reports unusually strong retail activity (which can be supportive for trading platforms broadly).
Coinbase’s own recent disclosures emphasize the breadth of its rollout and longer-term vision to expand tradable assets and onchain finance tooling. [23]
5) Keep one eye on the broader tape—even if COIN trades “crypto-first”
Today’s market backdrop was risk-on in equities—record highs in the S&P 500—yet COIN fell with bitcoin. [24]
If Wednesday opens with a broad market pullback (or another rally), COIN can still be tugged by index flows, especially as an S&P 500 constituent. [25]
Bottom line for COIN heading into Wednesday’s open
Coinbase is going into the Dec. 24 session with three forces in play:
- Near-term driver: crypto prices and year-end liquidity (bitcoin is still the gravity). [26]
- Company-specific headlines: the CEO’s Form 4 (with the 10b5-1 plan context) and ongoing attention on prediction markets expansion. [27]
- Market structure tomorrow: an early-close holiday session that can exaggerate moves, especially in high-volatility names. [28]
For investors, the most practical takeaway is this: don’t judge COIN tomorrow by “normal day” rules. Between the early close, thinner holiday liquidity, and a crypto tape that never sleeps, Coinbase shares can react quickly—sometimes more to sentiment than to new fundamentals—right up until the bell at 1:00 p.m. ET.
This article is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice.
References
1. www.benzinga.com, 2. www.nasdaq.com, 3. apnews.com, 4. www.benzinga.com, 5. www.benzinga.com, 6. www.barrons.com, 7. www.coindesk.com, 8. www.sec.gov, 9. www.sec.gov, 10. www.sec.gov, 11. www.sec.gov, 12. www.coinbase.com, 13. builtin.com, 14. www.coinbase.com, 15. www.reuters.com, 16. www.benzinga.com, 17. www.benzinga.com, 18. www.benzinga.com, 19. www.benzinga.com, 20. www.nasdaq.com, 21. www.nasdaq.com, 22. www.sec.gov, 23. www.coinbase.com, 24. apnews.com, 25. press.spglobal.com, 26. www.coindesk.com, 27. www.sec.gov, 28. www.nasdaq.com
