Crypto Currents: Coinbase starts rollout for stock trading, prediction markets

As bitcoin, ethereum and other cryptocurrencies see major legal, institutional, and technological developments, the financial landscape continues to adapt. Stay up on the crypto news that matters with the “Crypto Currents” weekly from The Fly. Also, join us for your essential daily recap, every day at 2 PM ET on FlyCast radio.

COINBASE STARTS ROLLOUT FOR STOCK TRADING, PREDICTION MARKETS: Coinbase (COIN) announced Wednesday it has begun rolling out stock trading to Coinbase users in the United States. The company said, “You will now be able to buy, sell, and manage leading stocks and ETFs alongside your crypto portfolios – with USD or USDC – all within one Coinbase app and account…In time, we believe everything will be tokenized, and bringing stocks to Coinbase is an important milestone toward enabling tokenized stocks. With tokenized stocks, you’ll be able to trade 24/7 anywhere in the world, use the stocks you own onchain, and even make instant payments. To begin down that path, we plan to launch Coinbase Tokenize, our new end-to-end institutional platform for tokenizing real-world assets…We also began rolling out access to prediction markets on Coinbase in the United States. You will soon be able to trade on the outcomes of real-world events like elections, sports, collectibles, and economic indicators, with prices of the event contracts determined by the collective trading activity of market participants. All market flow will come from Kalshi at launch.”

The company also announced it is bringing these advanced financial tools into the hands of millions in the U.S. by rolling out a new, simplified trading experience in the Coinbase app. Additionally, Coinbase is expanding its DEX trading integration to include access to Solana tokens and making Coinbase Business available to all eligible businesses in the U.S. and Singapore. The company also announced an AI-powered advisor called Coinbase Advisor and availability of the new Base App in more than 140 countries.

Coinbase also announced Thursday it is launching Custom Stablecoins, allowing any business to create a custom stablecoin fully backed 1:1 by flexible collateral, all custodied by Coinbase.

Cantor Fitzgerald lowered the firm’s price target on Coinbase to $320 from $459 and kept an Overweight rating on the shares. Coinbase’s “System Update” event showcased its evolution toward an “Everything Exchange,” including new equities trading and prediction markets, signaling a shift beyond cyclical crypto trading, the analyst said. While the product announcements are positive, near-term revenue and profitability estimates are being lowered due to recent crypto sentiment declines, as 2026 consensus volume expectations of 14% may be overly optimistic if a crypto winter occurs.

Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank initiated coverage of Coinbase with a Buy rating and $340 price target. The company will leverage its leading crypto market position to create a broader on-chain platform with additional capabilities, the analyst said. The firm believes Coinbase’s strategy should “substantially widen” its addressable markets and diversify its products, while mitigating potential future pricing pressure within retail crypto trading. The company’s heaviest investment stage has passed, positioning it for better scale and modest EBITDA margin expansion, contended Deutsche.

Deutsche Bank also kept a Buy rating on Robinhood (HOOD) with a $160 price target following the company’s yes/no keynote event. The company showcased its latest prediction market features and management said they believe the prediction markets are in the early stages of a “supercycle,” the analyst said. With increasing adoption and volume growth, these contracts could eventually reach trillions in volumes traded each year, according to Robinhood, the analyst added. Deutsche estimates prediction markets in the U.S. could potentially reach at least 1T contracts in 2027 and well over 5T in 2029. Robinhood’s developments in prediction markets include making the contracts available on both the mobile app and Legend desktop, with real-time data and limit orders, the firm said.

Earlier in the week, Mizuho lowered the firm’s price target on Coinbase to $280 from $320 and kept a Neutral rating on the shares. The firm’s survey of over 230 Coinbase and Robinhood users indicates strong engagement with the prediction markets. Coinbase and Robinhood users are 9-times more likely to participate in prediction markets versus non-users, the analyst said. Mizuho expects Robinhood to see greater medium-term revenue upside, supported by “fresh capital inflows” and a Q4 run-rate of $300M. It trimmed Coinbase’s price target to reflect softer than initially expected Q4 trends and lower bitcoin price levels.

HUT 8 SIGNS $7B AI DEAL: Hut 8 Corp. (HUT) announced Wednesday that it has signed a 15-year, $7B lease with Fluidstack for 245 megawatts of IT capacity at its River Bend data center campus in Louisiana. The agreement grants Fluidstack a Right of First Offer for up to an additional 1,000 MW of IT capacity at future expansion phases of the campus, subject to the expansion of power at the site.

Asher Genoot, CEO, said, “River Bend reflects the strength of Hut 8’s power-first, innovation-driven development model, validated by the world-class counterparties we are executing alongside. This Agreement is the result of disciplined, patient execution as we focused on securing the right transaction, not just the first…By integrating industry-leading counterparties throughout the project lifecycle, we are strengthening delivery certainty and positioning River Bend to set a new standard for how next-generation AI infrastructure is designed and developed.”

Hut 8 also announced Wednesday a partnership with Anthropic and Fluidstack to accelerate the deployment of hyperscale AI infrastructure in the United States. The partnership is structured across several tranches that together establish a path to deploy at least 245 MW and up to 2,295 MW of utility capacity. The partnership will launch at the company’s River Bend campus in Louisiana, where Hut 8 and Fluidstack will develop an initial 245 MW of IT capacity, supported by 330 MW of utility capacity. Hut 8 grants the tenant a Right of First Offer for up to 1,000 MW of additional IT capacity at River Bend, subject to the expansion of power at the site. Hut 8 and Anthropic may jointly diligence and develop up to 1,050 MW of additional optional capacity to scale across Hut 8’s development pipeline beyond River Bend.

Following the reports, Canaccord raised the firm’s price target on Hut 8 to $62 from $54 and kept a Buy rating on the shares. The firm said the company’s lease agreement announced with Fluidstack/Google (GOOGL) is not just the latest in a string of hyperscaler data center announcements, it is a standout outcome for Hut 8 both in pricing and terms. Canaccord notes a triple net lease structure, Google backstop support without issuance of warrants/ stock, a 3% annual price escalator, and bulge bracket support on the project financing side, where management expects to achieve a loan to cost of up to 85% at roughly SOFR +2.5%.

Craig-Hallum raised the firm’s price target on Hut 8 to $80 from $60 and kept a Buy rating on the shares following their data center lease. The firm noted that the economics on the 245 MW deal are impressive. Craig-Hallum also believes that the scalability provided by Fluidstack’s ROFO on the next 1 GW at River Bend and the strategic partnership with Anthropic for diligence on another 1 GW could prove very meaningful in the future and could ultimately turn this deal announcement into one of “legendary” status for the company.

Meanwhile, Keefe Bruyette raised the firm’s price target on Hut 8 to $55 from $30 and kept an Outperform rating on the shares. The improving colocation economics is a positive read-through for miners with ready-for-service capacity over 2026-2027, the analyst said.

INTUIT TO LEVERAGE CIRCLE STABLECOIN INFRASTRUCTURE: Intuit (INTU) announced Thursday it has signed (CRCL) to accelerate next-generation financial services powered by stablecoin technology. The agreement establishes a framework for Intuit to leverage Circle’s comprehensive stablecoin infrastructure and USDC across the Intuit platform.

“Intuit is at the forefront of financial innovation to deliver faster, lower-cost, and programmable money movement to millions of consumers and businesses to fuel their success,” said Sasan Goodarzi, CEO. “Our partnership with Circle will expand our capabilities to layer stablecoins onto Intuit’s trusted platform as we put money at the center of everything we do, so money works harder and smarter for everyone.”

H.C. Wainwright initiated coverage of Circle Internet with a Neutral rating and $85 price target. The firm said the company’s current valuation fully reflects its near-term opportunities. Circle is one of the most regulatorily compliant stablecoin issuers in the crypto ecosystem, which will enable it to continue to win market share over as global adoption of U.S. dollar backed stablecoins accelerates amid regulatory tailwinds, the analyst said. However, H.C. Wainwright views the stock’s risk/reward profile as balanced at current levels based on Circle’s near-term growth prospects and the valuations ascribed to other digital asset equities.

VISA LAUNCHES STABLECOIN SETTLEMENT IN THE U.S.: Visa (V) announced Tuesday the launch of USDC settlement in the United States. U.S. issuer and acquirer partners can now settle with Visa in Circle’s USDC, a fully reserved, dollar-denominated stablecoin. With USDC settlement, issuers can benefit from faster funds movement over blockchains, seven‑day availability and enhanced operational resilience across weekends and holidays, the companies said. Initial banking participants include Cross River Bank and Lead Bank, which have started settling with Visa in USDC over the Solana blockchain. Broader availability in the U.S. is planned through 2026.

“Visa is expanding stablecoin settlement because our banking partners are not only asking about it – they’re preparing to use it,” said Rubail Birwadker, Global Head of Growth Products and Strategic Partnerships, Visa. “Financial institutions are looking for faster, programmable settlement options that integrate seamlessly with their existing treasury operations. By bringing USDC settlement to the U.S., Visa is delivering a reliable, bank‑ready capability that improves treasury efficiency while maintaining the security, compliance and resiliency standards our network requires.”

Visa also announced Monday the launch of its stablecoins advisory practice. The new service offering by Visa Consulting & Analytics provides actionable insights and recommendations to guide banks, fintechs, merchants, and businesses of all sizes on market fit, strategy and implementation.

ANALYST LOWERS PRICE TARGETS ON BITCOIN MINERS: Rosenblatt lowered the firm’s price target on TeraWulf (WULF) to $20 from $24 and kept a Buy rating on the shares. Stubbornly high network competition has been an issue for Bitcoin miners throughout 2025 and the situation has “gone from bad to worse” with the sharp drop in BTC, the analyst said. Although pure play miners will remain under pressure, the impact is limited for high-performance computing plays given “entirely uncorrelated and considerably more profitable HPC hosting opportunities,” the analyst added. Rosenblatt also lowered the firm’s price target on Mara Holdings (MARA) to $15 from $22, on Cipher Mining (CIFR) to $25 from $33 and on Hive Digital (HIVE) to $6.50 from $10. The analyst kept a Buy rating on all the names.

OTHER CRYPTO NEWS:

• Strategy (MSTR) acquires 10,645 bitcoin at $980M
• Invesco (IVZ), Galaxy (GLXY) announce Invesco Galaxy Solana ETP
• Bitmine Immersion (BMNR) announces crypto, cash holdings totaling $13.2B
• American Bitcoin (ABTC) reports strategic reserve of 5,098 bitcoin
• VivoPower (VVPR) to originate 450M underlying XRP tokens worth $900M for Lean Ventures
• Exodus (EXOD), MoonPay and M0 unveil digital dollar
• TeraWulf, Fluidstack announce pricing of 168MW project financing
• Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage of Hyperliquid Strategies (PURR), Hyperion Defi (HYPD)
• SRx Health (SRXH) to acquire EMJX to establish DAT operating system, platform
• DMG Blockchain (DMGGF) reports FY25 EPS (5c) vs. (3c) last year
• Fold Holdings (FLD) available in all 50 states following BitGo partnership
• SoFi Technologies (SOFI) launches stablecoin
• IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) reportedly in talks to invest in MoonPay
• Iren (IREN) initiated with a Neutral at Goldman Sachs

CRYPTO STOCK PLAYS: Publicly traded companies in the space include Bit Digital (BTBT), Coinbase, Core Scientific (CORZ), Greenidge Generation (GREE), Mara Holdings, Strategy, Riot Platforms (RIOT) and TeraWulf.

PRICE ACTION: As of time of writing, bitcoin dropped roughly 2% this week at $88,143 in U.S. dollars, according to CoinDesk.