Coinbase Becomes First Crypto Exchange to Join the S&P 500
Coinbase has made history by becoming the first cryptocurrency exchange to be included in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index, a significant milestone for the digital assets industry. The S&P 500 tracks the stock performance of 500 leading publicly traded companies in the United States. Coinbase, which enables users to buy, sell, transfer, and store cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, celebrated this achievement as a sign that "crypto is here to stay," according to CEO Brian Armstrong.
Coinbase first went public in 2021 on the Nasdaq and has since transitioned to a remote-first company without a single headquarters. The company’s inclusion in the S&P 500 comes amid a political climate that is increasingly supportive of the crypto industry, particularly under the Trump administration, which has been rolling back regulatory measures and even launched its own meme coin.
Despite this success, Coinbase has faced significant challenges. Last week, the company disclosed a cyberattack that could cost between $180 million and $400 million, as reported in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Hackers bribed overseas customer support agents to steal customer data, including names, phone numbers, emails, and the last four digits of Social Security numbers, affecting less than 1% of users. Coinbase refused to pay a $20 million ransom and instead offered the same amount as a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrators.
Coinbase is also under investigation by the SEC regarding the accuracy of its reported user numbers, and it faces a lawsuit in Illinois over alleged illegal collection and storage of biometric data. Despite these issues, Wall Street has remained confident, with Coinbase’s stock surging 24% following the S&P 500 announcement and closing at $263.99 per share. In the first quarter, Coinbase reported revenue of $2.03 billion, a 24% year-over-year increase, but net income dropped to $66 million from $1.8 billion the previous year.
