Goldman Sachs upgrades Coinbase to buy, cuts eToro to neutral

Markets Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Goldman Sachs upgrades Coinbase to buy, cuts eToro to neutral The bank said it is 'selectively constructive' on brokers and crypto companies heading into 2026. By Will Canny , AI Boost | Edited by Stephen Alpher Jan 5, 2026, 2:09 p.m. Wall Street Bank Goldman Sachs upgrades Coinbase to buy, cuts eToro to neutral. (Coinbase, modified by CoinDesk) What to know : Goldman Sachs said it is "selectively constructive" on brokers and crypto for 2026, citing resilient retail trading and regulatory progress. James Yaro and team upgraded Coinbase (COIN) to buy while downgrading eToro (ETOR) to neutral. COIN shares were ahead more than 4% premarket, while ETOR stock dipped modestly. Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs said it is “selectively constructive” on brokers and crypto companies heading into 2026, arguing that a resilient retail trading environment and continued regulatory progress should underpin growth. "We expect the meeting of traditional retail brokerage and crypto trading to continue in 2026, driving increasing competition, potentially impacting market share and product pricing," analysts led by James Yaro wrote in the Monday report. STORY CONTINUES BELOW Don't miss another story. Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today . See all newsletters Sign me up By signing up, you will receive emails about CoinDesk products and you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . The bank upgraded crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) to buy from neutral and raised its price target to $303 from $294, implying more than 30% upside. Shares were 4.3% higher in early Monday trading alongside a Sunday night rally in crypto prices. The bank downgraded eToro (ETOR) to neutral from buy and cut its price objective to $39 from $48. The stock was 1.2% lower at $35.27 in premarket trading. Yaro and team continued with buy ratings on Robinhood (HOOD), Interactive Brokers (IBKR) and Figure Technology (FIGR). Coinbase’s scale and brand strength are seen as key drivers of above-peer revenue growth and market share gains, said Yaro. He forecasted a 12% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in revenue for COIN through 2027, compared to 8% for peers, supported by best-in-class customer acquisition costs. Yaro and team also highlighted recent product launches across brokerage, banking, wealth and tokenization, saying they improve the firm’s competitiveness and position it to scale structurally growing areas such as prediction markets. At the same time, the bank is constructive on Coinbase’s expanding subscription and services business, which now accounts for about 40% of revenue, expecting it to grow steadily and reduce earnings volatility as crypto use cases broaden beyond trading. "While it continues to offer healthy growth, competition is intensifying across its core market and products, potentially driving higher customer acquisition costs and pricing, and impacting planned US expansion," the analysts said of eToro in their downgrade. Read more: Citi is still a believer in crypto stocks despite bitcoin being rocked to end the year Coinbase eToro Goldman Scahs Analysts AI Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards . For more information, see CoinDesk's full AI Policy . More For You KuCoin Hits Record Market Share as 2025 Volumes Outpace Crypto Market By CoinDesk Research Dec 22, 2025 Commissioned by KuCoin KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market. What to know : KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025 , equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month , marking its strongest year on record. This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume , as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes , which slowed during periods of lower market volatility. Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split , each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line. Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity , reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover. Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity , indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes. 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