Coinbase Becomes the First Crypto Company to Join the S&P 500

Coinbase is again in the news following a recent announcement that the top crypto exchange will be joining the S&P 500. This development will see the exchange become the first crypto company to join the S&P 500, while the COIN stock price has jumped on the back of this development.

Coinbase To Replace Financial In S&P 500

In a press release, the S&P Dow Jones Indices announced that Coinbase Global will replace Financial in the S&P 500, effective before the opening of trading on Monday, May 19. The crypto exchange will trade under the ticker ‘COIN,’ in a move that will provide further exposure for the exchange and attract more investors.

Nasdaq data shows Coinbase’s stock surged 8% following the S&P 500 announcement. The COIN stock price is currently trading at around $224, up over 17% in the last month. However, the stock is still down over 16% year-to-date.

This announcement comes just days after the crypto exchange announced an agreement to acquire crypto options firm Deribit for $2.9 billion, making it the largest merger and acquisition in crypto history. Following the deal, Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan predicted that the exchange could one day become a trillion-dollar company.

Strategy founder and Bitcoin maximalist Michael Saylor congratulated Coinbase and its CEO Brian Armstrong, stating that it is a major milestone for the exchange and Bitcoin.

The top crypto exchange has also released a statement on its X account following the announcement. The X post read,

Thank you to everyone who made it possible for a crypto company to join the S&P 500 for the first time in history.

In an X post, Brian Armstrong also commented on the feat, remarking that his exchange just became the first and only crypto company to join the S&P 500. He added that this milestone represents what the true believers, both retail and institutional investors, and employees and partners knew all along, that crypto is here to stay.