Coinbase Stock Tumbles as Goldman Sachs Cuts Rating to ‘Sell’

Goldman Sachs analysts expect lower cryptocurrency trading volumes will drag Coinbase revenues down more than 60% this year

article-image

Blockworks exclusive art by axel rangel

share

key takeaways

  • Goldman Sachs analysts lowered their Coinbase price target from $70 to $45
  • The Wall Street bank expects Coinbase to make further staff cuts

Coinbase stock fell more than 10% on Monday after Goldman Sachs downgraded it to a sell, citing potential for large revenue drops this year.

Goldman analysts, led by Will Nance, said in a research note that current cryptocurrency prices and trading volumes indicate further declines in Coinbase income.

Coinbase has historically generated more than 90% of its revenue from trading fees.

The analysts expect Coinbase’s revenue to fall 61% year on year in 2022 and by 73% in the second half of the year alone, as the soured macro outlook continues to inflict pain on industry heavyweights.

Goldman’s latest rating lowers its price target for Coinbase from $70 a share to $45. The top US exchange’s stock was worth around $56 during pre-market trade on Tuesday, having recovered 1% from Monday’s losses.

If Goldman analysts are on point, Coinbase could see its share price shed another 20% from here.

Coinbase recently said it would slash its workforce by 18% — or 1,100 employees — in anticipation of a US recession. The company warned its trading revenue could be hurt by the crypto winter, a period marked by an extended downturn across digital assets.

Goldman expects Coinbase to make further staff cuts as its layoffs thus far only bring its headcount back to where the company was at the end of this year’s first quarter.

The Wall Street mainstay’s analysts reckon Coinbase must “make substantial reductions in its cost base” to stymie its cash burn as “retail trading activity dries up.”

Goldman is also bearish on Coinbase’s decision to sunset its professional trader-focused platform and unify all trading into a single application.

“We believe that combining these platforms will reduce switching cost friction between the two platforms and potentially lead to fee rate compression,” the analysts said.

Coinbase’s stock has drifted downward ever since it went public in April 2021 at a valuation of more than $86 billion. The company’s market value is now under $12.5 billion, having collapsed 85% since its direct listing.

[stock_market_widget type=”accordion” template=”chart” color=”#832ED0″ assets=”COIN” start_expanded=”true” display_currency_symbol=”true” api=”yf” chart_range=”1mo” chart_interval=”1d”]


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Research Report Templates (1).jpg

Research

Jupiter has emerged as the undisputed liquidity backbone of Solana, commanding over 90% of spot DEX aggregation and 80% of perp trading volume. But behind the numbers lies a far more ambitious play: a cross-chain, vertically integrated super-app spanning swaps, synthetics, NFTs, memecoins, and launchpads. This report explores Jupiter’s rapid rise, the monetization upgrades reshaping its revenue profile, and the risks that could unwind its dominance, from token dilution to competition. With annualized revenues nearing $300M, the upside is undeniable, if it can navigate the turbulence.

article-image

Curve founder Michael Egorov is working on a new protocol designed to eliminate impermanent loss, rethink token emissions, and capture BTC-native yield

article-image

Mining outfits have gone bust in the wake of prior halvings. Not so this time around.

article-image

Zora’s announcement that its token is for “fun only” sparked a debate about the need for such tokens

article-image

In recent weeks, Helium has hit new all-time highs while passing major protocol milestones

article-image

Financial advisers in a January survey said equity ETFs were their top choice for gaining crypto exposure in 2025

article-image

“Why put a target out there that’s really speculative, not knowing exactly where this environment is going to go?” CarMax CEO Bill Nash said