Coinbase's Focus List for 2026: Is It Ready to Ride the New Wave?

Coinbase Global COIN has been exploring paths to be the industry’s premier “everything exchange.” From launching new products to entering the prediction market with Kalshi, from joining forces with banks to pursuing strategic buyouts (Vector, Echo, Deribit, Liquifi and others), it has left no stone unturned.  

COIN’s focus list for 2026 includes real-world assets (RWA) perpetuals, specialized exchanges and trading terminals, next-gen DeFi, and AI & robotics. Delving deeper, COIN noted increased interest in on-chain RWA and perpetuals, crypto’s most proven trading product fits best rather than tokenization. With improvements in perpetual DEX infrastructure, RWA perpetuals create synthetic exposure to off-chain assets through perpetual futures contracts. Coinbase thus anticipates bringing exotic asset exposure on-chain. 

COIN noted that prediction markets have emerged as one of the leading consumer crypto applications. Entering the prediction market in collaboration with Kalshi is thus a prudent move. COIN also remains focused on investing in projects that accelerate on-chain market structure development.

COIN believes the next phase of DeFi needs to be more efficient, flexible, and able to offer credit. Platforms that mix yield-earning assets, perpetual trading, structured products, and lending without heavy collateral could start to compete directly with traditional finance. COIN also sees this as a trillion-dollar opportunity.

Coinbase also expects crypto and artificial intelligence to come together. 

COIN, through its Coinbase Ventures, stays focused on capitalizing on the opportunities as and when they arise in these avenues.

What About its Peers?

Robinhood Markets HOOD stays focused on accelerating growth through rapid product innovation and global expansion. Robinhood has been engaging in opportunistic acquisitions to deepen its footprint and expand its product reach within the United States and globally. Robinhood also noted that AI features and fast rollouts are increasing engagement, premium monetization and retention, while stronger tools attract both retail and advanced traders. 

Interactive Brokers IBKR continues to explore growth opportunities in the emerging markets of Taiwan, Mexico and India. Given the rapid growth of its European business, Interactive Brokers has substantially expanded its operations there. Interactive Brokers has been undertaking several measures to enhance its global presence.

COIN’s Price Performance

Shares of COIN have gained % year to date, outperforming the industry.

COIN’s Expensive Valuation

COIN trades at a price-to-earnings value ratio of 45.14, significantly above the industry average of 24.2. It carries a Value Score of F.

Estimate Movement for COIN

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for COIN’s fourth-quarter 2025 and first-quarter 2026 EPS has witnessed no revision in the past seven days. The same holds true for full-year 2025 and 2026 EPS.
 

The consensus estimate for COIN’s 2025 and 2026 revenues indicates year-over-year increases. Though the consensus estimate for the company’s 2025 EPS indicates an increase, the same for 2026 indicates a decline.

COIN stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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