Shares of the largest publicly traded US crypto exchange, Coinbase, fell this week as the broader crypto market rose in value, and as the market grappled with insider trading news and analyst forecasts.
Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded $COIN from “buy” to “neutral,” citing risks related to weak crypto market conditions. The company has set a price target of $120, which represents more than a 20% downside from recent trading levels.
The downgrade comes as the stock struggled in early 2026 amid a broader pullback in digital assets. COIN opened Thursday at about $153, down about 10% from its midweek high, and is now down about 34% year-to-date.
Coinbase’s decline reflects the cooling of crypto markets after last year’s rally. Bitcoin is down nearly 30% in the past month, while major altcoins have posted even bigger losses. The decline has reduced trading volumes across the sector, depressing one of Coinbase’s main revenue drivers.
Analysts Criticize Coinbase ($COIN)
Analysts across Wall Street have begun revising their forecasts. JPMorgan recently cut its price target on Coinbase by 27%, pointing to lower trading volumes, lower crypto market capitalization, and weakening stablecoin activity, including softer USDC circulation.
“We view the global crypto market as highly fractured, with many smaller players threatening Coinbase’s market share,” JPMorgan analysts wrote in a shared note. Remove encryptionwarns that Coinbase could lose the “controlled monopoly” it has enjoyed as the only publicly traded crypto exchange for several years.
Other firms have also adjusted their views.
Cantor Fitzgerald lowered the price target from $277 to $221 while maintaining an overweight rating. Citi cut its target from $505 to $400 but maintained a buy rating, indicating long-term optimism despite the headwinds ahead.
The stock currently has a consensus rating of “Average Buy,” with 19 analysts rating the stock a buy, 12 giving a hold, and one issuing a sell. The average price target across analysts stands near $332, suggesting many still see upside at current levels.
Brian Armstrong is selling some of his shares
VanEck’s head of digital assets research Matthew Sigel reported that Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong sold more than 1.5 million shares between April 2025 and January 2026, worth about $545 million based on Bloomberg pricing data.
The single largest sale occurred on June 25, when Armstrong disposed of 336,265 shares at approximately $355 per share.
Armstrong publicly responded to X, defending his sale as a way to diversify after more than a decade with most of his wealth tied up in one company.
“It would be a little crazy after 13 years, to have 99.999% of your net worth in one stock,” Armstrong wrote at the time, adding that he is staying “too long” on Coinbase and has used the money to start new companies.
HC Wainwright analyst Mike Colonese recently warned Coinbase that it may miss net income and adjusted EBITDA, driven by soft digital asset prices and unrealized crypto losses. He also flagged the possibility of a major loss of headline earnings due to Coinbase’s crypto holdings and its stake in Circle.
“We wouldn’t be surprised to see stocks trade lower in light of the big losses reported,” Colonese wrote, though he maintained a buy rating and said he would view post-earnings weakness as a buying opportunity.
All of this comes as the price of Bitcoin extended its steep decline today after a months-long slide that erased more than half of its value from its October peak, with the price of Bitcoin now trading near $66,000 following a sharp selloff that pushed prices to $60,000.
Since around December 2025, the price of bitcoin has followed a straight downward path, dropping from levels above $100,000 to a volatile range that has kept traders focused on whether the market has reached a plateau.
