Coinbase to Be First Crypto Firm to Join S&P 500
The exchange secured crucial derivatives advantage before winning the coveted blue-chip status.
Coinbase Global is set to shatter the glass ceiling separating digital assets from traditional finance, becoming the first crypto company to join the S&P 500 index.
The exchange will replace Discover Financial Services after trading opens on May 19.
The announcement, made by S&P Dow Jones Indices on Monday, sent Coinbase shares surging almost 10% in after-hours trading to $227.69. The stock had already climbed 4% during regular trading hours, bringing its market cap to $52.8 billion.
What this means is that every teacher's retirement fund, every firefighter's pension, every 401(k) hiding in the financial plumbing of corporate America, they've all just involuntarily become Coinbase shareholders.
"COIN about to be in every portfolio in America, the S&P 500 inclusion is going to force 7x the daily trading volume into [the] stock," Juan Leon, senior investment strategist at asset manager Bitwise, said in an X post.
How did it get there?
For inclusion in the market's most prestigious index, Coinbase had to clear several hurdles
Profitability in the most recent quarter (Coinbase reported $66 million net income in Q1)
Cumulative profits over the previous four quarters
Market capitalisation exceeding $18 billion (Coinbase sits at $52.8 billion)
Trading on a major US exchange (Coinbase trades on Nasdaq)
Generating at least half its revenue in the US
The profitability requirement explains why Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), despite its Bitcoin billions, remains excluded. The company posted a $4.2 billion net loss in Q1 2025, disqualifying it from consideration.
Coinbase’s profits plunged 95% from $1.29 billion in Q4 to just $66 million in Q1 — but in the S&P 500 game, profit is still profit.
This milestone comes just days after Coinbase's largest acquisition to date, the $2.9 billion purchase of crypto derivatives exchange Deribit, completed earlier this month.
The company launched 24/7 Bitcoin and Ethereum futures trading merely hours after announcing the acquisition.
Read: Coinbase's $2.9B Power Move 🧿
Wall Street analysts are increasingly bullish on Coinbase's prospects.
In February, Oppenheimer analyst Owen Lau predicted Coinbase could soon list on the S&P 500, maintaining his "buy" rating and raising his price target to $388.
Coinbase joins a small but growing list of crypto-adjacent companies in the S&P 500, including Tesla (TSLA) and Block Inc (SQ) — both significant corporate Bitcoin holders.
"Joining this prestigious index reflects how far Coinbase and the industry have come and is a signal of where the world is heading," said Alesia Haas, Coinbase's chief financial officer.
Yet Coinbase remains the only "pure-play" crypto firm in the index, offering investors direct exposure to the industry's growth without requiring them to hold digital assets directly.
This exclusivity only enhances Coinbase's value proposition.
For institutional investors seeking crypto exposure, COIN now represents the safest, most regulated on-ramp available.
This triumph raises uncomfortable questions about the industry's soul. Crypto was born as a rejection of centralised financial power. Now its most successful company joins the very establishment it was designed to circumvent.
Instead of fighting the system, Coinbase brought crypto into it — and started changing it from within.
For investors, cryptocurrency is no longer optional. Whether through direct holdings, ETFs, or now Coinbase shares in index funds, digital assets have secured permanent residency in diversified portfolios.