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Coinbase Shares Sink 9% on Report CME to Consider Listing Spot Bitcoin
Shares of Coinbase fell nearly 8% on Thursday to a price of $202.49 after a report from the Financial Times that futures exchange CME was considering offering spot bitcoin trading to its clients. This news caused Coinbase to be the second worst performing among crypto stocks on Thursday. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) is the largest futures exchange globally and a financial powerhouse, and its potential entry into spot bitcoin trading could pose a threat to Coinbase's position as the most trusted crypto exchange in the U.S. CME is already the biggest bitcoin futures exchange by open interest in the U.S., and it has been holding meetings with traders who wish to trade bitcoin on a regulated marketplace. The report also mentioned that recently launched spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have given traders a safer way to invest in the token, with over 500 institutions taking advantage of them within the first three months of existence. This news comes as cryptocurrencies were up on the day, with the CoinDesk 20 Index tracking 20 of the largest digital tokens by market capitalization being 0.91% higher over the past 24 hours. Bitcoin was up by half a percent as it continued to profit from Wednesday’s better-than-expected inflation report. Coinbase's stock has been up 29% year-to-date as crypto prices have rallied since the beginning of the year.
