Coinbase shrugs off site crash as shares of the top U.S. crypto exchange surge
Shares of Coinbase Global, the biggest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, have nearly doubled over the last month—and were up some 265% over the last year—through trading on Monday, which saw the biggest single-day gain since January 2022.
The stock closed at $229.15 after reaching as high as $236.46. Shares within the last year had fallen to as low as $46.43.
Investors are eyeing Coinbase thanks to the wider crypto rally, which has seen Bitcoin climb 54% this year to surpass $67,000 on Monday, edging closer to its all-time high of $68,991 in November 2021. The original cryptocurrency gained more than 7% on Monday and surpassed $1.3 trillion in market cap for the second time in history.
But for the second time in a week on Monday, many Coinbase users saw zero-dollar balances when logging into the platform.
In supporting approval we would frequently point out that ETFs are SBF-proof but they’re also whatever this is-proof. https://t.co/KOFsP0yXqw
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) March 4, 2024
“We are aware some users may experience increased latency across Coinbase.com, and a few users may see intermittent zero balance. Rest assured, your funds are safe,” Coinbase said in a post on X on Monday afternoon.
Based on past experience, it’s never a bull market until Coinbase has multiple outages in a week.
So in my books…
Bull market is finally confirmed.
(Honestly though… you’d think they would’ve improved their infrastructure by now?)
— Tony Cai ⚛️ #SoundFinance (@TonyCai_) March 4, 2024
Meanwhile, shares in MicroStrategy Inc., an enterprise software firm and the largest corporate Bitcoin holder, with about 190,000 coins, also soared on Monday. Shares gained over 23% to close at $1,334 while also seeing their highest intraday level in more than two decades. Over the last year, they’re up more than 460%.
Bitcoin has been rallying since the Securities and Exchange Commission approved mainstream financial institutions, such as BlackRock and Fidelity, to issue spot Bitcoin ETFs, driving mainstream investors toward crypto. The exchange-traded products have made it easier for retail investors and IRA holders to gain exposure to Bitcoin without needing to buy it from an exchange or navigate on-chain wallets. And already, the $7.7 billion in year-to-date Bitcoin inflows have exceeded all inflows from 2021, according to Bank of America Global Research’s Flow Show team, led by investment strategist Michael Hartnett.
BlackRock Inc.’s iShares Bitcoin Trust and Fidelity Investments’ Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund have captured 79% of total inflows into the so-called Newborn Nine—a popular moniker for the group of new ETFs, excluding Grayscale’s GBTC, which has seen billions in outflows. On Friday, IBIT jumped above $10 billion in assets under management after receiving a record $612 million of inflows in a single day.
