Coinbase stock forecast as Brian Armstrong reveals 3 focus areas for 2026

Coinbase stock price has crashed by nearly 50% from its highest level in 2025, erasing billions of dollars in value. Its market cap has dropped from over $90 billion to ~$70 billion today. This article provides a forecast for the stock as Brian Armstrong delivers his key priorities.

Why the Coinbase stock price has crashed

COIN stock price has crashed because of the ongoing crypto market crash that has hit Bitcoin and most altcoins, leading to low volume in the industry.

Bitcoin price has tumbled from an all-time high of $126,300 to the current $88,000, while Ethereum has tumbled from nearly $5,000 to $3,000. As a result, the market capitalization has dropped from over $4.3 trillion to the current $3 trillion.

Centralized and decentralized exchanges’ volume often tumble when there is a crypto crash. For example, data compiled by DeFi Llama shows that the volume handled by decentralized exchanges (DEX) in Ethereum has dropped from $128 billion in August to $49 billion in December.

Similarly, the volume in Solana dropped from $148 billion in October to $104 billion in December last year. Therefore, there is a possibility that the volume in Coinbase continued falling in the fourth quarter.

Transactions are an important part of the company’s business, generating over $1.046 billion in revenue in the third quarter. Its revenue was much higher than the $746 million it made in its other businesses.

Coinbase stock price also tumbled as investors remained concerned about its valuation, which surged earlier in the year. Its price-to-earnings ratio dropped from 70 in June to the current 37. These concerns continued to rise as the company’s growth trajectory slowed.

Additionally, competition in the crypto industry continued to rise. Some notable American companies like SoFi, Charles Schwab, and Vanguard are entering the industry, which may push it to lower its margins over time.

More competition is coming from perpetual exchanges like Lighter, Hyperliquid, Aster, and edgeX. Data shows that the volume of perpetual DEX networks stood at over $998 billion in December, down from $1.38 trillion in October.

Brian Armstrong reveals top priorities 

Meanwhile, Brian Armstrong, the company’s CEO, has come up with the three main priorities that the company will focus on this year.

The first priority is to grow the business across other areas like cryptocurrencies, equities, prediction markets, and commodities. It recently launched its predictions market using its collaboration with Kalshi. Also, the company hopes to become a major player in the equities market by launching tokenized stocks.