NEW YORK, January 4, 2026, 11:00 ET — Market closed
- Coinbase told users in Argentina it will end peso-to-USDC conversions and local bank withdrawals on Jan. 31.
- Shares closed Friday up 4.6% at $236.53, after finishing 2025 at $226.14.
- Investors are watching Monday’s open, plus January milestones including the Clearing Company deal and the next earnings-date estimate.
Coinbase Global (COIN.O) will stop allowing customers in Argentina to buy or sell USD Coin (USDC) using pesos from Jan. 31, the company told users, scaling back local-currency services less than a year after it entered the market.
The decision lands as Coinbase pushes to diversify revenue away from crypto trading fees, which can swing sharply with market activity. Stablecoin and payments growth is a core part of that pitch, making any retrenchment in local on-ramps a point of scrutiny.
U.S.-listed shares ended Friday up 4.6% at $236.53, the first trading session of 2026, after closing 2025 at $226.14. Bitcoin last traded around $91,000 over the weekend, keeping crypto-linked stocks on watch into Monday.
The pause affects what traders call fiat rails — the local banking links that let customers move between pesos and crypto without leaving the app. From Jan. 31, users will no longer be able to buy or sell USDC with Argentine pesos or withdraw funds to local bank accounts, Cointelegraph reported.
Coinbase gave users a 30-day window to complete peso-based USDC transactions and withdrawals, according to the report. Crypto-to-crypto activity remains available and customer funds are unaffected, it added.
A Coinbase official told Forbes Argentina the firm is taking a deliberate pause after a review of local operations and wants to return with a more sustainable product offering, DL News reported. The spokesperson also said the move does not imply a permanent exit, according to the report.
The Argentina pullback follows a fresh strategic push from Chief Executive Brian Armstrong, who laid out three priorities for 2026 that include building an all-in-one trading platform spanning crypto and other assets. “Grow the everything exchange globally,” Armstrong wrote on X. X (formerly Twitter)
Coinbase has already been laying groundwork for that broader push. In December, it said it would start letting users trade stocks and event contracts — instruments tied to the outcome of real-world events — as it moves deeper onto the turf of brokerages such as Robinhood (HOOD.O) and Interactive Brokers (IBKR.O).
That expansion comes with regulatory risk. Reuters has reported that event contracts face a patchwork of oversight debates in the United States, with some state officials arguing they resemble betting.
Coinbase also agreed to buy prediction markets startup The Clearing Company as it expands beyond its core digital-asset business, Reuters reported, and the deal is expected to close in January. Prediction markets let customers buy and sell contracts tied to outcomes such as elections and economic data.
COIN has traded between $142.58 and $444.65 over the past 52 weeks, according to Investing.com. Short-term chart watchers have highlighted the $225 area as near-term support after late-week lows, with resistance near the $239–$245 zone from late December.
But the Argentina pause underscores how quickly banking access and compliance costs can force exchanges to retrench in volatile markets. Any delay in rolling out equities and event contracts, or a renewed slide in crypto prices, would likely show up quickly in customer activity and trading volumes.
When trading resumes Monday, investors will watch for any further detail on Coinbase’s Argentina timeline and whether similar changes surface in other markets, alongside bitcoin’s direction. They are also tracking progress on the Clearing Company closing in January and Coinbase’s next results, which MarketBeat estimates for Feb. 12.
