Coinbase Price Target Cut by JPMorgan Due to Regulatory Risks

Analysts at JPMorgan cut their price target for Coinbase (COIN) stock to $52 from $60 for the year ending in December, a report from the bank on Friday showed.

JPMorgan cited ongoing regulatory risks to the company’s digital-focused businesses, including staking, USDC stablecoin and custody, as the main reasons for the change in outlook.

“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,” analysts wrote. “However, recent actions by the [Securities and Exchange Commission] put different pieces at risk, including staking, USDC stablecoin and custody.”

Coinbase shares were down 0.5% to $65.27 on Friday morning.

Coinbase’s staking business is particularly at risk because JPMorgan had anticipated Coinbase would auto-enroll its clients in Ethereum staking following the Shanghai Fork currently set for March, bringing Coinbase up to $1 billion in revenue, the note said.

The Shanghai Fork is a network upgrade that will address staked ether withdrawals and reductions in gas fees for developers. It is considered to be a new era for the Ethereum ecosystem.

“Given the regulatory environment, we see a more cautious Coinbase avoiding auto-enrollment,” JPMorgan said. “While [ether] staking still presents a revenue opportunity, we expect it will be much smaller and will take much longer to develop.”

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