GM. This is Milk Road PRO, the crypto intel that hits harder than your third espresso on a deadline day.
In 2021, Coinbase (COIN) was the only crypto stock anyone could talk about.
Fast forward to today, and the game has totally changed.
Now there are Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs or big names like Robinhood and Circle stepping into the ring.
Coinbase just isn't the star of the show anymore. 😤
Look at how COIN has done this year compared to HOOD.
Robinhood has skyrocketed 219%, while Coinbase is only up 2.39%.
So yeah, it’s not surprising some investors feel a bit disappointed. Coinbase just hasn’t kept pace. 😞
Even though their core businesses aren’t exactly going head-to-head, people still like to stack them up side by side.
And with numbers like that, it’s fair to wonder: what’s really going on with Coinbase?
✍️ While Robinhood is surging, Coinbase feels like it’s stuck in neutral.
That’s why today we’re setting the comparisons aside and zooming in on COIN.
Since our last PRO report on Coinbase came out back in April, a lot has changed and most recently, we just got their Q3 earnings.
So now feels like the perfect time for a fresh update to figure out whether Coinbase still has room to bounce back, or if the crypto momentum has moved on without them.
Here’s what we’re unpacking:
- Why is Coinbase underperforming right now?
- What could spark a major turning point for the company?
- Did their Q3 results deliver anything worth noting?
- What key details did most people overlook in that earnings report?
- What should we do with our current COIN position?
Let’s kick things off with a quick look at the current state of things at Coinbase and some context around their business.
COINBASE TODAY
In that earlier report we already mentioned, Kyle made a bold call saying Coinbase could one day hit a $1 trillion valuation.
But right now, we’re still a long way off. Coinbase is currently valued at around $71 billion, so there’s a big gap between where it is and where it could go.
In the intro, we only showed you Coinbase’s year-to-date performance, but smart investors know it’s always better to zoom out and look at the bigger picture.
After all, it’s one of Kyle’s favorite quotes: “Majors, spot, zoom out, chill”
Because performance and evaluation of your investments is often about perspective and the timeframe you’re looking at:
- If you're focused on short-term performance, that's trading.
- But if you're playing the long game, you're investing.
Two very different mindsets, and the results can look completely different depending on which one you choose.
- For some investors who jumped into Coinbase this year, the performance might feel a bit underwhelming.
- But if you were buying during the bear market in 2023, when COIN was trading around $50-$60, it’s a very different story. You're already sitting on 5-6 times your money.
P.S. If you were a PRO member in 2023 we put out the COIN call <$60. It pays to be a Milk Road PRO All Access member! (And until Monday, you can upgrade at a 40% discount 👀)
Using a longer timeframe is definitely the smarter approach. It helps cut through the short-term noise.
But at the same time, you can’t ignore how the world around the company is changing. Market conditions shift, the industry evolves, and companies have to keep up. How well they adapt to those changes is key.
👉 That’s really what investing is about: keeping an eye on the big picture, while regularly checking in to see if the company is still on the right track.
We believe 2025 could mark a major turning point for most crypto companies and Coinbase is no exception.
COINBASE AT A TURNING POINT
Let’s talk about why we think this year has been a major setup for the next wave of crypto adoption and why Coinbase could be right at the center of it.
1/ Crypto is finally becoming “legal” in the eyes of the U.S. government.
After years of uncertainty, the U.S. is not only warming up to crypto, but also working to bring real legal clarity.
That lack of clear rules has been one of the biggest things holding the industry back and now, that’s finally starting to change.
👀 There’s a new clarity bill in the works, and it could pass by the end of this year or early next.
If it does, it could be a total game changer for Coinbase.
Why? Because it would open the door to an entirely new market and clear out a lot of the legal fog that’s made things risky and complicated.
And here’s something many people still don’t realize: Coinbase isn’t just a crypto exchange for everyday traders.
Behind the scenes, they’ve been quietly building a serious presence and relationships on the institutional side and working with major financial players and laying the foundation for bigger things to come.
Once the bill passes, Coinbase will likely become the go-to partner for institutions suddenly able to explore, build, use, and offer crypto products.
👉 And the way things are set up, Coinbase is in a prime position to lead that shift.
Which brings us to the second piece of the puzzle.
2/ They’ve been quietly focused on building out the infrastructure - getting everything ready for the next big wave of adoption.
When they announced their own L2, Base, many said they were disrupting their own business model.
And they were right.
But this wasn’t about short-term wins. It was a long-term bet, a move they believed would give them a serious edge in the years ahead.
Now, that strategy is about to pay off.
It’s becoming more obvious by the day: most of the financial world is going onchain.
And this is where Coinbase really stands out.
👉 They don’t just have a massive user base, they also have their own blockchain, and an ecosystem around it that’s growing fast.
That mix of users, infrastructure, and real activity is going to be tough for anyone else to match.
Right now, there’s still a gap between “using crypto” and “using traditional finance”.
But in five years, that gap could disappear. It’ll all feel seamless and most people won’t even realize they’re using blockchain tech at all.
That’s why we think Coinbase is in such a strong position. They’re not just part of the shift because they’re leading it.
Coinbase’s evolving into something much bigger:
- It’s becoming the “everything exchange”, where anything of value can be traded.
- It’s positioning itself as the go-to crypto partner for institutions.
- It’s building out infrastructure to power real-world payments.
And that’s just the beginning.
They’re not just aiming to compete in one corner of finance, instead they’re setting up to disrupt multiple sectors at once.
These were the exact reasons why Kyle was so bullish on Coinbase and we believe those arguments are still just as strong today.
With that in mind, let’s dive into their latest earnings report to see if the numbers are looking good.
Uh, Oh… 😧 The rest of this report is exclusive to Crypto PRO or PRO All Access members!
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WHAT’S LEFT INSIDE? 👀
- Did their Q3 results come as a surprise or a letdown?
- What did most people overlook during the earnings call?
- What’s their current P/E ratio?
- Where do we think COIN is headed in the future?
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