Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, will be included in the S&P 500 index starting May 19, 2025. This is the first time a company from the cryptocurrency sector has a place in one of the most influential U.S. stock indexes.
The firm’s shares jumped 10.6% on the back of the news, with analysts predicting a billion-dollar infusion into Coinbase stock. The achievement is seen by the firm’s representatives not only as a recognition of the platform’s success, but also as a signal of growing institutional confidence in the industry as a whole.
Incrypted ‘s editorial team studied the situation around Coinbase’s inclusion in the S&P 500 index and gathered analysts’ opinions on the prospects of such a decision.
A Long Way to the Top
Coinbase was founded in 2012 by entrepreneurs Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam. Initially, the platform was a simple service for buying bitcoin, but in just two years it has grown into one of the key players in the industry with a customer base of one million users.
In 2021, the company made a public offering (IPO) on the Nasdaq stock exchange. In the first hours after listing, its market capitalization jumped to an impressive $110 billion with a peak share price of $429.5. Nevertheless, by the end of the first trading session, the figures had already dropped to $85.8 billion and $328.3, respectively.
However, with the growth came difficulties. The platform attracted the attention of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which later turned into a multi-year standoff between the agency and the company.
In addition, between 2022 and 2023, Coinbase was hit with all the force of the “crypto winter”. The exchange faced the classic problems of that period: market decline, reduced revenues, mass layoffs and branch closures in various countries. It was against the backdrop of these events that the company reached the bottom of the stock market — on January 6, 2023, its securities were trading at $31.5. At the same time, the market capitalization decreased to $15.35 billion.
Fortunately for Coinbase, things started to change in the following months. In a fairly close connection with the crypto market, the exchange’s position gradually strengthened and by the end of 2023 the company’s shares jumped to $185. Bitcoin was trading around $43,400 these days, according to TradingView.
In the following years, Coinbase was engaged in systematic business development, including expansion of the product line and building up the user base. And importantly, it sought to enter regular quarterly earnings. While throughout 2023 the company showed losses in reports, the situation changed the following year.
To understand how the situation developed:
In the following we will understand why this point plays an important role in the cross-section of the firm’s “conquest” of the S&P 500 index.
In Q1, 2025, Coinbase recorded $2.03 billion in revenue and $66 million in net income. Among the main drivers of growth, the company cited increasing transaction volumes, building capital in stablecoins and expanding global expansion.
As of May, asset size on the platform reached $404 billion. The exchange serves more than 10 million users in over 100 countries and employs about 3,700 people. In the same month, the company acquired Deribit, an options and futures trading platform, for $2.9 billion, further strengthening its market position.
Coinbase is also developing its own blockchain Base, providing cryptocurrency loans and promoting solutions for retail and institutional investors.
A kind of “cherry on the cake” in 2025 for the company and its clients was the end of long legal proceedings with the SEC. This was facilitated by the coming to power of Donald Trump’s administration and a change in government policy towards cryptocurrency companies. As a result, in February, the Commission agreed to dismiss the case against Coinbase, which attempted to classify a number of tokens as securities.
How the Tortoise Beat the Rabbit
Public and analyst interest in Coinbase’s inclusion in the S&P 500 is not only due to its financial performance and importance to the industry, but also to its competitors. The community has long debated which cryptocurrency company would be the first to enter the index, making history.
Experts considered Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), founded by bitcoin maximalist Michael Saylor, to be the main competitor. This publicly traded firm is the largest corporate holder of the first cryptocurrency — over 555,000 BTC. However, Strategy failed to meet a key condition, which is the need to demonstrate stable quarterly earnings. Moreover, in the past reporting period, the firm even incurred a net loss of $4.2 billion.
It is important to note here that in December 2023, Saylor’s company entered another index, the Nasdaq 100. It was after this event that the network began to actively discuss Strategy’s potential inclusion in the S&P 500. But it was not destined to become the first cryptocurrency company on the list, because Coinbase at that moment was already one step away from this achievement.
Brian Armstrong’s firm met all the necessary criteria for Q1 2025 results. In addition to positive earnings and high capitalization ($52.9 billion at the time of the index inclusion announcement), the company proved the sustainability of its infrastructure-focused business model.
At the same time, Armstrong earlier emphasized that the exchange deliberately rejected Saylor’s bitcoin strategy, considering it too risky. Coinbase bet on services, institutional products and asset diversification.
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you. Then they fight you, and afterward they add you to the S&P 500,” the Coinbase team wrote.
The listing means the firm’s stock will be counted in millions of portfolios, from pension funds to ETFs. In all likelihood, the company will rank at the bottom of the index, with a “weight” of about 0.1-0.2% of the total capitalization tracked by the S&P 500. By comparison, Apple holds about 7%, and lesser companies range from 0.01%.
Note that when it comes to the industry and the S&P 500 index, until recently only companies like Tesla and Block Inc, which have an indirect connection to the crypto sphere, managed to get in. However, it now includes a firm whose business model is built entirely on digital assets and blockchain solutions.
“Joining this prestigious index reflects how far Coinbase and the industry have come and is a signal of where the world is headed,” said Coinbase CFO Alesia Haas.
By the way, Saylor did not forget to congratulate the company and “conditional” competitor on getting into the main U.S. stock index.
New Horizons
Inclusion in the index gives Coinbase both immediate and long-term advantages. The main one is the growth of passive capital. Bernstein analysts have estimated $9 billion in inflows into the company’s stock, the result of funds that are required to hold shares of all companies in the S&P 500 index.
“We estimate potential buying volume for Coinbase at $9 billion from passive ETFs linked to the S&P 500 index and beyond. Gradually, for eligible active funds, we estimate an allocation of ~0.1% of the index to a potential $7 billion in purchases,” said Bernstein analyst Gautam Chugani.
The second effect is increased confidence from institutional investors. Coinbase, in fact, has become one of the few platforms to pass the “institutional sieve” and definitively connect with TradFi. This could facilitate partnerships with banks, hedge funds and other participants in traditional financial markets.
The third aspect is reputational. Getting into the index is a formal signal to the market that Coinbase meets the requirements of the largest economic institutions in the United States. Bitwise analysts have already stated that COIN “will be in every U.S. portfolio.”
Coinbase Chief Operating Officer Emily Choi emphasized that the index is not just a list, but “a magnet for institutional capital.” The firm’s securities will now be counted in benchmarks alongside Apple, Microsoft and Nvidia.
“The S&P 500 is bitcoin among stock indexes: the most reliable, the most tracked, and the premier passive-flow magnet. Tracking at least $5 trillion and assuming a ~0.2% weighting, index funds will be buyers of about $10 billion worth of COIN stocks,” said VanEck’s Head of Digital Asset Research Matthew Siegel.
Given the current pace, Coinbase could become not just a contributor to the index, but one of its stable components. Rising demand for cryptocurrency instruments and the adoption of stablecoins in settlement systems all make the company’s business particularly relevant on the horizon of the coming years.
The firm’s entry into the S&P 500 index is indeed a historic moment for the entire industry. By all appearances, crypto assets have finally entered the mainstream. And Coinbase is their first official face on Wall Street.