Coinbase Gains on Bitcoin Rally, Court Win

Coinbase (COIN:US) shares gained almost 7% on Friday after Bitcoin (BTC:US) topped $31,000. The world’s largest digital asset gained on Friday to increase its weekly gains to over 15%.

The ongoing rally has been fueled by increased demand for crypto trading products, including ETFs. BlackRock (BLK:US), the largest asset manager in the world, filed an application last week for the first spot Bitcoin ETF in the US.

“The long-term conviction of these financial behemoths — which include some of the most trusted names in asset management and retail investing — boosted sentiment and investor confidence when both were relatively low,” said Ryan Rasmussen, an analyst at Bitwise Asset Management. 

“It’s a sign that the days are numbered for bad actors like Binance and FTX and that the crypto ecosystem is maturing. That’s a powerful catalyst for the industry, which has been plagued at various times by fraudsters and detractors.”

Coinbase shares were also boosted by a U.S. Supreme Court decision on Friday, which ruled that a lawsuit, filed by one of the company’s users, cannot advance forward until Coinbase defends an appeal of a lower court ruling.

The court ruling will allow Coinbase to continue halting the lawsuit’s progress. While this is not seen as a major development for the wider crypto community, it is still a small victory for the embattled crypto exchange, which was recently sued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Congress members didn’t report Coinbase stock trades in 2023. Congressman Shri Thanedar and Representative Marie Newman were selling the COIN stock in the final weeks of 2022.