BlockBeats News, March 30th, Bernstein stated that, after a large-scale drop, the trading prices of cryptocurrency-related stocks are experiencing a “significant discount,” and the current valuation reflects weak short-term sentiment rather than long-term growth potential.
The research and brokerage firm noted in a report to clients on Monday that stocks related to digital asset infrastructure—including exchanges, brokers, and tokenization platforms—have dropped by about 60% from recent highs, despite their underlying businesses continuing to expand in markets such as stablecoins, derivatives, prediction markets, and tokenizing real-world assets.
Bernstein expects that the current weakness will persist until the release of first-quarter earnings reports, after which it will stabilize. Accordingly, analysts believe that the first-quarter earnings season may mark a bottom.
This view extends the firm’s recent stance that some sell-off in cryptocurrency stocks—including those related to Circle due to concerns around U.S. regulation—may have already deviated excessively from the fundamentals.
Bernstein maintains an “outperform” rating on Coinbase (ticker: COIN), but has lowered its price target from a previous $440 to $330.
Despite soft trading volumes in the first quarter, analysts expect profit growth to remain robust. They also project that by 2027, its revenue will expand at a compound annual growth rate of around 26%.
Bernstein believes that stablecoins will bear much of the growth burden, with Coinbase representing about half of Circle’s USDC revenue, while derivatives and newer products are starting to contribute more to the revenue mix.
The report also emphasizes that subscription and service revenue (including stablecoin revenue) provide a buffer against cryptocurrency price volatility, although spot trading volumes remain cyclical.
This assessment echoes Bernstein’s previous view that Coinbase’s stock is “cheap to the point of being hard to sell,” with the firm emphasizing at the time that increasing trading volumes and product expansion will bring significant upside.
