On Friday morning, Coinbase’s stock dropped 0.59% to $65.20.
The key reasons for the change in view include continuous regulatory concerns.
According to a report released by JPMorgan on Friday, analysts have reduced their price objective for Coinbase (COIN) shares from $60 to $52. JPMorgan said that the key reasons for the change in view include the continuous regulatory concerns to the company’s digital-focused businesses such as staking, USDC stablecoin, and custody.
Analysts stated:
“While we continue to agree with the consensus view that thoughtful rules and regulations are what is needed to deliver greater confidence in and growth for the crypto ecosystem, we see regulation through enforcement as a risk to digital-focused businesses.”
All Eyes on Staking
On Friday morning, Coinbase’s stock dropped 0.59% to $65.20. Coinbase’s staking business is especially vulnerable since JPMorgan predicted that the company will automatically enroll its customers in Ethereum staking after the Shanghai Fork scheduled for March, boosting Coinbase’s income to $1 billion.
The Shanghai Fork is an improvement to the network that will reduce gas costs for developers and allow for staked ether withdrawals. A new era has begun in the Ethereum ecosystem.
Moreover, earnings for the quarter ending in December 2022 will be reported by Coinbase on Tuesday, 21 February 2023. The market meltdown caused by the FTX collapse impacted all exchanges, including Coinbase, significantly throughout the quarter.
Although user trading is a major contributor to Coinbase’s bottom line, the recent crypto winter did do some damage. As a result, cryptocurrency exchanges often prioritize optimizing their crypto-staking income sources. If regulatory worries intensify, Coinbase may lose some of these funds as a result.